Well-Being Australia chairman Mark Tronson suggests that this was a brave comment because the disastrous consequences for the Palestinians are still being felt today.
The Palestinian and Arab refusal to accept a UN plan to partition the then British-controlled mandate of Palestine sparked widespread fighting then Arab military intervention after Israel declared independence the following year. The Arabs lost the war. 'It was our mistake. It was an Arab mistake as a whole,' Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Channel 2 TV on Friday (28 October 2011), in a rare interview to the Israeli media. 'But do they [the Israelis] punish us for this mistake 64 years?'
Mark Tronson pondered further that such missed opportunities are nothing new. The examples of people who have regretted decisions they made, the effects of which lasted their entire lifetime and even further to the following generation, are legion.
It is not 'always' like the beautiful sunset endings in the movies. How do we choose wisely? What criteria do we use to evaluate, to discern the best course of action? Clearly, gathering information and carefully analyzing our options is essential. Beyond that, we need wisdom and clarity of thought in order to make prudent decisions based upon the facts at hand and our understanding of God's will.
Kenneth Boa writing on decision-making comments: "The only basis for really good decisions is correct thinking. This kind of wisdom comes from above and is given to us through four primary avenues – God's Word, God's Spirit, God's Providence and God's people. In other words, to ensure good decision-making habits, we must be people whose minds are consistently being renewed by God's Word. We must also be people who walk in step with the Spirit of God, paying attention to his promptings and leadings. We must watch carefully and understand how God works providentially in our circumstances. And we must live in community with other faithful believers." (bible.org/seriespage/decision-making)
Nehemiah 1:1-11, he suggests, provides one of our best patterns for doing it right and gives a case study. Nehemiah was faced with a huge challenge. The walls of Jerusalem were in disrepair, and the returned exiles were vulnerable and disheartened. When Nehemiah got this news, we see his four-step process to approach the problem. First, he carefully studied the situation (vv. 2-3). Second, he empathised with those who were hurting (v. 4). Third, he humbled himself before God (v. 4). Fourth, he prayed (vv. 5-11). And what a prayer! Nehemiah adored God (v. 5), confessed his nation's sin to the Lord (vv. 6-7) and finally petitioned God for help (vv. 8-11).
Things happen in life says Mark Tronson. We face a crossroad in life and everyone of us makes decisions, and sadly, some of them engulf missed opportunities. They range from matters of the heart to choosing one career over another, selecting one candidate for a job rather than others going for that position, choosing one holiday destination over against another resort, choosing one house over another, and the list goes on. When it goes wrong, it seems to go horribly wrong and one simply rues one's error or mistaken judgement at the time.
This is precisely the reason, Mark Tronson explains, why in Christian evangelism, the sentiment is pushed and pushed, that today is the day of Salvation, and not to put it off, it could be the worst mistake of your life to lose such an opportunity.
There are numerous stories of evangelists giving such clarion calls to Salvation where the Holy Spirit tugged at someone's heart, but they rejected the invitation to repent, and fall at the Cross and become a follower of Jesus. He recounts numerous stories over his long years of ministry where he's heard how a young person rejected Jesus but found themselves losing their lives through a car accident or other such calamity and being called to account as to their decisions.
Missed opportunities are the rue of the evangelist broken heart where they know in their inner spirit, a young person was challenged to follow Jesus.