“The opportunity of a lifetime needs to be seized during the lifetime of the opportunity.”
— Leonard Ravenhill
Leonard Ravenhill was a British evangelist and writer with a deep burden for prayer, revival, and wholehearted faith. He had a way of speaking with urgency. Not to pressure people, but to wake them up to what God might be inviting them into right now.
That quote has been sitting with me lately, and the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized how much it connects with a season of my own story.
There was about a two-year stretch where I knew God was calling me into ministry and I was doing everything I knew to be faithful to that call. I was guest speaking, interviewing with churches, having conversations, praying, waiting. If you’ve ever walked through pastoral interviews, you know the rhythm—sometimes doors close quickly, sometimes they seem promising, and sometimes you’re just left waiting.
During that season, I also felt a growing tension. I knew God was putting things on my heart—teachings, devotionals, encouragements, but I felt limited in how and where I could share them. So I launched Ember Faith. It became a space where I wasn’t confined to four walls, and through Bible studies and devotionals, I was able to connect with people far beyond my local context. That season mattered more than I realized at the time.
Along the way, I interviewed with several churches. Some opportunities I had to turn down, and that wasn’t easy. A part of me wondered if one of those doors was the one God wanted me to walk through. What made it even harder was the people. At each church, I connected with individuals who deeply loved their congregation and their community. They wanted to serve well. They wanted to see God move. I cared about them.
I remember thinking more than once, If I could just take all these people—from these churches and from where we are now—and put them together, it would be incredible. A church full of people on fire, serving hard, loving their communities, expecting God to work.
And then it hit me.
They were already where they needed to be.
The church isn’t one building or one location. The church is scattered all over the globe, faithfully serving in different places, at different paces, in different contexts. God had them exactly where He wanted them, doing exactly what He had called them to do.
What’s ironic is that during that waiting season, there was a moment when opportunities came quickly—faster than what’s typical in ministry transitions. I had more than one church offer me the chance to come and serve as their pastor. On paper, some of those opportunities made a lot of sense.
But the opportunity I ended up seizing didn’t look like the easiest or most comfortable one.
It meant moving 750 miles north. It meant leaving a growing, thriving community and stepping into a rural one. A different pace of life. A different feel. A different set of challenges.
But deep down, I knew this was the opportunity God was placing in front of me.
What I couldn’t have known then is how clearly God would confirm it later. Over the past several months, and especially recently, I’ve heard affirmations that have landed in a powerful way. Stories of how God is moving. How families are growing. How the Word is resonating. How this congregation is leaning in.
Those moments don’t inflate ego—they settle the soul. They don’t say, Look what you did. They whisper, This is where you were supposed to be.
That’s why Ravenhill’s quote isn’t about chasing every opportunity that comes your way. It’s about discernment. About paying attention. About recognizing the difference between a good opportunity and a God-given one.
Not every open door is yours to walk through. But some doors won’t stay open forever.
So if God is nudging you—inviting you into obedience, into service, into something that stretches you—don’t ignore it. You don’t need all the answers. You just need a willing heart.
The opportunity of a lifetime often looks ordinary in the moment. But in God’s hands, obedience has a way of shaping a life far more than we ever imagined.
