Going the Wrong Way

I had a first this month. I was in Bakersfield, California speaking at the annual meeting of the California Southern Baptist Convention. The day I was to return home, I was scheduled to fly to San Francisco and then back to Calgary, Canada. I flew 140,000 miles this year and I am usually extremely careful when traveling because I have seen almost everything that can go wrong. That morning I arrived at the small airport two hours early. My United Express flight was already running an hour late. I went to my gate, pulled out my laptop and began getting some work done. People began to slowly fill up the waiting area over the next hour. The sign at the gate at the desk simply said, “San Francisco delayed.”

Finally I saw the plane arrive. Passengers hurriedly deplaned and made their way into the terminal. As I packed up my computer I heard them announce they were now boarding United Express 6322. I went to the door and handed the agent my boarding pass. I walked out to the tarmac and boarded the plane. I was sitting in the exit aisle. The flight attendant never gave a destination check but she did walk down the aisle of the plane counting passengers. Finally we were ready to go. As the plane began taxiing down the runway the captain came on the intercom. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re glad to have you on board with us. We are expecting an uneventful, short flight over to Los Angeles today . . .” My heart skipped a couple of beats! Not once had I heard them announce where we were going. At first I considered hollering at the flight attendant to stop the plane and to let me out. But I didn’t want everyone on the plane to know what I had just done! So I went to L.A. (Makes you feel secure knowing how safe and secure air travel is today doesn’t it?!) When I called my dear wife to tell her what I had done and that I would be getting home late, she laughed so hard her sides hurt!.

Two days later I had to fly to Knoxville, Tennessee. Having only recently boarded an entirely wrong plane, I was understandably nervous. My flight from Calgary to Chicago was uneventful. When they announced they were boarding for Knoxville I was the first person through the gate. We had to walk out on the tarmac. I was more cautious than usual. Seeing an airline agent walking in my direction I asked which plane was bound for Knoxville. She pointed to another agent farther ahead who was waving me on. When I reached him I asked, “Knoxville?” He nodded and led me to a plane. I boarded and stowed my computer bag. No one else came on board. Just as I was beginning to feel uneasy, the agent came back and apologized profusely telling me the plane I was on was heading for Louisville!

That week I discovered how easy it is to find yourself going in the wrong direction. In fact, sometimes it seems as if life is conspiring against you. That’s why it’s so important to be continually checking your spiritual bearings. Your life doesn’t have to be off by much in order to be off! I am increasingly cognizant of the fact that life is too precious to squander even one day outside of God’s will. But it can happen so easily.

Proverbs 14:12 warns: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” We can be absolutely convinced we are doing the right things, that our attitudes are correct, that our behavior is godly, but we can be absolutely wrong. We are being continually reminded that even respected and successful pastors can begin to go down the wrong path and yet convince themselves everything is fine.

Be sure you set aside regular times to refocus and get your spiritual bearings. With so many distractions and voices bombarding you it is easy to get your life off course. There is no better way to live than to be right where God wants you to be!

A Flat World

Recently I read the book, The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. I don’t agree with all of his views or his politics but he does highlight the fact that with the emergence of the Internet and the opening up of India, China and the former communist bloc, the world has radically changed. People are interconnected globally like never before. The west now has access to the hundreds of millions of people in India and China. The business world is responding to these new opportunities and challenges. Although Friedman doesn’t comment on the church, I am wondering how Christians will take advantage of technology to impact the global community. Those of us at Blackaby Ministries International are praying about and discussing how God wants to use the new tools available to us to help people around the world to experience God. That is one reason we offer Online classes. In the class I recently taught on spiritual leadership we had students from as far away as Australia and Romania. We are praying about how we can make classes, sermons and Bible teaching available to people in every region in the world including areas closed to the Gospel. Be praying for us and be asking the Lord how He wants to use your life to impact your world.

Special Prayer Request

I have a special prayer request. My father, Claude King and I are presently writing a major revision of Experiencing God. We want to update some of the material and to add some new stories of people who from around the world who have experienced God. Would you please pray for us in this project? God has used the original material so powerfully that we do not want to detract from its powerful message in any way. Please pray as we will be making new videos in February. If you have a particularly compelling story that could be used in the book or if you would like to attend the filming in February, let us know.

Posted by Richard Blackaby at 10:19 am