You’ve Got To Start Where You’re At… To Get Where You’re Going!

Blame it on an overabundance of activities and the demands of an in-demand life. Don’t blame it on forgetfulness! It may be that I was distracted. So you can imagine how appalled I was when I looked at my list of quotes and realized that I left out one of my most famous quotes—“You’ve Got To Start Where You’re At… To Get Where You’re Going.”

I’ve said it for years. Some people get it. Some people don’t. Those who do start. Those who don’t remain static. You’ve got to start where you’re at to get where you’re going.

I’m currently driving a nice Mercedes. I didn’t start with a nice Mercedes. I started with a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe, faded battleship grey, with a nicely worn interior, and a shift lever on the dash. It cost eighty dollars, which, at that time, was a lot of money to me. After the Chrylser was rendered immobile by a drunk cowboy in a pick-up truck I was given a ’63 Thunderbird. It caught fire as I drove home from a preaching trip, and ended up on the side of the highway. Not to worry, there are plenty of cars in the world.

I have a photo on my office shelf of my next car—a 1967 International TravelAll. Totally cool. Totally impractical. But if you’ve heard the story that I’ve told again and again, it was a direct answer to prayer, and an apt illustration of why one needs to be specific when one asks. It was also the first car upon which I had a car payment—fifty-seven dollars a month. I put a note on the visor that quoted Romans 12 “Be not slothful in business,” to remind myself that I had to make enough money to pay for the car. That began a long stream of car payments. I was so glad to sell that car!

From there it was a 1972 Ford LTD, in 1972! That didn’t last because I couldn’t afford it, but it did lead to a ’67 Chevy, that turned into a 1971 Gran Prix, triple black with honeycomb mag wheels. The Grand Prix turned into the first Cadillac, and the first Cadillac turned into twenty or so more over the years.

You’re thinking that I’m talking about cars. No, I’m talking about life. About starting where you’re at to get where you’re going. Everyone of these cars has a story behind it. The reconciliation that happened between me and my father when he bought the Chrysler. The way he prospered after he bought me the T-Bird. The Cadillac that was, without a doubt, a manifestation of supernatural supply. Does God supply Cadillacs? He does if you’re willing to start where you’re at, and know how to get where you’re going.

Next to the photo of the TravelAll is a photo of my first plane. It was a 1952 Beech Bonanza, forty-five years old, and sometimes the radio didn’t work. Believe me—it’s far different when your radio doesn’t work in a plane than it is when your radio doesn’t work in a car! I’ve owned and flown a half a dozen airplanes. I don’t own one now because I have no need for one—an airplane is too expensive to be a toy, a plane should be mission specific. But I can still fly a plane because I learned how, and developed the skill of flying. When I began flying I didn’t start with the last plane I owned, a high performance, “Ferrari of the Sky,” Bellanca Super Viking —I started with an old Bonanza. Which brings me to the point of this paragraph, and leads us “Behind The Door.” I didn’t start flying, I started driving. I didn’t start with a Mercedes, I started with a very old Chrysler. Whatever your age… Whatever your stage… You’ve got to start where you’re at to get where you’re going. When you meet me “Behind The Door” I’ll show you how to get there.

I’m giving you the password that will get you “Behind The Door”—POWER. My expectation is that those who benefit from what I’m sharing will reciprocate by sowing into this ministry. My further expectation, based on a fifty year track record, is that those who sow a seed into my ministry will reap accordingly. “Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over,” is the promise Jesus made and it’s my expectation for you as you sow your seed. I’ll meet you “Behind The Door.”