Living Influence with Bill Thrall and Scott Boyd

Episode Summary: "Why Satan Can Be the Author of Opportunity"

Podcast Date: October 2, 2025
Hosts: Bill Thrall, Scott Boyd
Guest Contributor: Grace

Overview

In this episode, Bill and Scott explore how Christians discern opportunities in life and the critical distinction between living by conviction versus chasing open doors. The conversation challenges conventional views of success and opportunity, proposes that not all opportunities are from God, and emphasizes building one’s life through deeply held convictions, often forged in struggle and faith, not just in circumstances. The central thesis: Your influence is shaped not by chance but by the convictions you live from—convictions rooted in your understanding of who God says you are.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Seduction of Opportunity: Not All Open Doors Are Divine

• Success and Blessing Misconception

  • Bill warns against equating success with God's blessing, especially within American Christianity.
  • Quote: “We have a propensity, at least in America as Christians, to believe that when we are successful, it's because God is blessing us.” (00:24 - Bill)

• Satan as the Author of Opportunity

  • Referring to Jesus’ temptation, Bill notes that Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world and Jesus did not dispute their legitimacy as ‘opportunities’.
  • Quote: “Satan can often be the author of opportunity. Because if all he has to do to keep anyone from the purposes of God is to give them a great opportunity, he'll do it.” (00:47 - Bill)
  • Bill points out that wealth or "great opportunities" can actually pull believers away from their calling.

2. Living by Conviction Instead of Circumstances

• Conviction vs. Circumstance
  • “What if next decisions are not based on opportunity or circumstances, but they're based on convictions? What if my next choices came out of the truths that I trusted?” (01:41 - Bill)
  • The conversation references Mother Teresa as an example—her influence stemmed not from circumstances but from a long-standing conviction (01:53–02:31).

3. God’s Interruption and Building Convictions

• Experience Shapes Convictions
  • Bill reflects on his own story: after meeting Jesus, he found himself in Bible college through a series of unexpected, unplanned events (03:37–04:52).
  • While initially overwhelmed, Bill describes a turning point after a Bible college teacher’s anger spurred him on a deep personal search in Romans, leading to a foundational conviction about grace and the righteousness of Christ (04:52–07:42).
  • Quote: “I am righteous. In fact, the evidence of this righteousness is the love of Christ in me.” (08:10 - Bill)

4. The Importance of Retelling and Remembering Our Stories

• Timeline Reflection
  • Bill’s mentor taught him to break life into 10-year blocks (“timelines”) to notice God’s hand in past events (08:44–09:45).
  • Quote: “If we can discover God in our yesterdays, we can find him in our tomorrows.” (09:17 - Bill)
  • Each person’s story shows God’s individual work in their life, even if unnoticed at the time.

5. Trusting God's Presence and Guidance

• First Sense of Calling

  • Bill shares a personal, almost mystical moment of sensing God's hand upon him in his dorm room, leading to a sense of divine destiny (11:53–13:37).
  • This experience is soon affirmed externally by someone telling him, "God's hand is on your life," confirming what he had sensed (14:06–14:31).

• The Challenge of Trust

  • Major life decisions (such as entering ministry with no job and a young family) required deep trust in God, even when plans were unclear and the future felt risky (15:17–16:52).
  • Quote: “How do you trust God?...It was so clear. This is our next. This is our conviction.” (16:10 & 16:26 - Bill)

6. Faith: Trusting Without Knowing

• Paradox of Trust

  • Bill highlights a key paradox: “Most of us want to say, ‘Show me God and I will trust you.’ And God wants to say, ‘Trust me and I will show you.’ ... When I say to God, show me and I will trust you, I'm in control of the process. When my God says to me, trust me and I will show you, he's in control of the process.” (17:13–18:06 - Bill)

• Being Participants, Not Partners

  • God doesn’t want us to partner on our terms, but to participate in what He’s leading (18:24–18:31).
  • The discussion closes this point by stressing, “You have to get God right. If you don't get God right, you'll never get you right.” (19:41–19:49 - Bill)

7. Encounters with Grace and True Identity

• Experiencing Grace
  • Unless one truly experiences grace, Bill argues, you can never “get God right,” nor understand yourself or others (20:23–20:29).
  • The episode repeatedly returns to how grace fundamentally changes one’s identity and life choices.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Danger of Opportunities:

  • “How much money do you need to not have to follow God?" (01:09 - Bill)

• On Influence and Living by Conviction:

  • “Everyone’s been affected by [Mother Teresa's] influence.” (02:27 - Scott)
  • “If we could get people just to pause and look at their yesterdays in depth, they will discover circumstances, situations, people and things that were really God at work in them. They may have ignored it ... but that doesn't mean it's not true.” (10:03 & 10:31 - Bill)

• Afraid But Obedient:

  • “For me, the first experience I ever had of sensing the presence of God ... scared the bejeebies out of me.” (11:53 - Bill)

• On Divine Affirmation:

  • “Bill, I believe God's hands on your life ... And I'm going to pray for you every day the rest of my life.” (14:22 & 14:25 - Eleanor via Bill)

• On God’s Process:

  • “It's a paradox because when I say to God, show me and I will trust you, I'm in control ... when my God says to me, trust me and I will show you, he's in control ... It's a life of faith.” (17:13–18:06 - Bill)

• Summary Challenge to the Listener:

  • “Are we going to live our lives as victims to our circumstances? Or are we going to live our lives based on our convictions that God has brought into our lives that God has given us?” (20:36–20:59 - Scott)

Important Timestamps

• 00:24-01:41: The misconception that success equals God's blessing; Satan as the author of opportunity
• 02:17-02:31: Mother Teresa example—decades motivated by conviction, not circumstances
• 04:52-07:42: Bill's Bible college story and transformative conviction about righteousness
• 09:17-09:45: Timeline technique for seeing God in one’s story
• 11:53-13:37: Bill's first profound sense of divine call and affirmation
• 16:10-16:52: The cost and clarity of choosing to trust God’s direction in major life decisions
• 17:13-18:06: The “Show me and I will trust you" paradox
• 19:41-20:29: The essential need to “get God right” and to experience grace

Closing Thoughts

Bill and Scott urge listeners to examine their lives, not merely for opportunities and open doors, but for the lasting convictions that can only be defined by encounter with God’s truth and grace. They challenge listeners to map their stories for evidence of God’s influence, to develop convictions as the basis for decision-making, and to trust God deeply—“trusting without knowing.”

For further discussion next time:

• The transformative effect of truly experiencing grace
• Additional stories from Bill, Scott, and their guests on living from conviction and discerning God’s hand in their own lives