WF Pride

Excel in Communication

Chad Cottingham

“We’re meeting them at the Comfort Inn,” Jason said to me, Troy, and Keith as we headed into St. Ignace, Michigan looking to meet up with some folks. After driving the entire strip of the small coastal town located on the southern tip of the Upper Peninsula, we did not see the Comfort Inn. Troy pulled over and I quickly ‘googled’ it. Google said it was on the other side of town. How did we miss it? With four people in the car someone had to see the Comfort Inn. As we got to the other end of town – no Comfort Inn. It seemed that it was sold and now disguised as another inn. Jason quickly called our hosts, “Oh, the Quality Inn, ok, we’ll be right there, we see it right down the street.” We drove a short distance down the road and sat in the Quality Inn parking lot for a few minutes, but no one was there. What was going on? Jason called our host a second time. “A second Quality Inn!” Jason stated. Yes, that’s right. There was a second Quality Inn just across I-75 on the other side of town. We found the proper location, met up with our guests, and made it to our meeting… 15 minutes late.

The communication of four grown men and their hosts was not the best! We did not excel in communication. We had a lot of laughs trying to figure it out, but it was not good. Many of us have experiences like this every day. We don’t excel because we don’t listen and don’t follow basic instructions. This is also the case in our spiritual lives. God has given us His instructions for our lives and they are found in the Bible. Some have even said that BIBLE stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. His instructions are right and relevant to our lives. They are designed to help and protect us. But, like our trip to St. Ignace, we don’t listen to or follow the instructions as God has designed.
James 1:25 ‘But if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law- the law that sets you free – and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.’ NLT

“Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, thank you for the Bible. Help us to set time aside out of our busy schedule to read Your Word daily. Thank you for the direction it brings. Help us to hear and apply Your perfect instructions each day. Help us to live lives that are pleasing to You! In Jesus name, Amen.”