Joni and Friends Daily Devotional
July 5, 2011
A Reminder Over the Rockies

Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.... Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
--Ephesians 5:15-17

Somewhere over Colorado, the plane went completely dark. At the same moment, the audio channels died and the movie screen went blank. I gave a serious-almost frightened-look to my friend, Judy, sitting next to me. It didn't help that we were encountering turbulence over the Rocky Mountains.

The captain came on with the usual bland assurances. But I don't think many of us felt assured. After a few more minutes I heard a passenger say, "Do you smell something burning?" You could sense the tension in the cabin. And just then we began to descend. Judy and I huddled our heads and began softly saying the Lord's Prayer. The captain came on and explained that due to the power failure, we would be making an emergency landing in St. Louis. As our plane slowly lost altitude, Judy and I began praying for the other passengers. If we were going to die, we wanted to cover as many people as possible with our intercessions.

When we finally touched down in St. Louis, applause erupted from the passengers. Relieved as I was, I found a Scripture from the book of Job slipping into my thoughts. "Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed" (Job 14:5). In short, God can take us home any old way and any time he wants. That "limit" for me might have been that very afternoon over the Rockies. It was yet another reminder that today is the most important day of my life.

*********

Don't look at today as "just another day." Think of it as one more priceless opportunity to love people to Jesus. We really don't know if there will be another.

Father, I don't want to waste this precious day of life. I want to walk with you step by step and enter into all your will and desire for me.

Blessings,

Joni and Friends
www.joniandfriends.org