Be Prepared

When I traveled with a music ministry team, we did a booking in Flagstaff, AZ. Since were there on our day off, our contact offered to take us to see the Grand Canyon. After a 90 minute ride, we arrived at the Southern Rim.

It was spectacular!

As we gazed on the awesomeness and majesty of this natural beauty, our contact pointed out a line about half way down from rim. He told us if we got to the end of that line, we could look over and see the Colorado River.

I thought, “That doesn’t look so far! Let’s do it."

Big mistake!

We made our way down the canyon and it was great! It was a beautiful hike and when we got to the end, we looked over and saw the Colorado River.

It was amazing!

When we finished and were ready to make our way back, we turned around, looked up, and realized we had to make our way all they way back up the canyon!

As beautiful as the hike was on the way down, it was grueling on the way up. I would try to take short cuts through the switchbacks. My teammate would physically push me to keep me going. I saw some older ladies riding mules and was tempted to push them off their mules and ride like the wind! It was brutal!

We finally made it up and it was a huge relief!

Here’s the thing, we were not prepared for that hike. My team spent 6-8 hours a day driving from place to place. While we may have been young, we did very little to keep our bodies in peak physical shape. Our preparation had us ready to LOOK at the Grand Canyon, not hike it!

Life has a way of handing us opportunities. The question is, are we currently preparing for those opportunities?

John Wooden once said, “When opportunity comes, it is too late to prepare.”

We need to be constantly preparing for opportunities that are on the horizon.

What do you need to prepare for?