What’s Keeping You from Reaching Your Destination? Pt. 1

the driver lost his tie tack. So several of us started looking for it. Kirsten even crawled up under the taxi to find it. We were serving him at that point. His purpose was to get his customers to their destination, but he was completely distracted by a tie tack! After Kirsten handed him the lost tie tack, he got in the car and drove off! But we still needed a taxi! I was determined I would have a can-do attitude with the second driver that showed up. So, when he pulled up, I immediately started pointing to where to put each piece of luggage—two in the back, one in the front, and one that I would hold on my lap.But when I went to get in the taxi, he started yelling in Japanese.

Yelling at me.

I didn’t know he was yelling at me, but apparently, he was telling me not to get in his taxi.

He was already angry that I wasn’t listening, but he flew into a rage when my suitcase bumped into the seat of the taxi and got dust on it. He shoved me to get me out of his taxi and went to grab my suitcase.

You know when things seem to move in slow motion and you don’t know how to respond?

That was one of those moments.

I didn’t know what to do.

He went to the other side of the taxi and opened the door and yanked my bag out. He was yelling and really trying to provoke me.

It’s a good thing I didn’t understand the language because that prevented him from getting a rise out of me.

Then, because he wasn’t getting a reaction, he picked up my suitcase and threw it across the street!

He actually made the dust worse when he dragged the suitcase across the seat.

Then, he slammed the door, got in the driver’s seat, and drove off.

We were just trying to get to the airport. What was happening?

In the emotion of the moment, I didn’t think about what was going on, but isn’t this a perfect illustration of what can easily happen in our lives?

The first driver was half-hearted at best. He lost sight of his purpose. I may have offended him and accidentally gone against his customs, but he still could’ve received a great reward for fulfilling his purpose.

Many of us are just like that driver—we want to go somewhere and accomplish something, but we’re not thinking right; we’re not fixing our eyes on our purpose; we’re not doing our best; and we don’t get the reward. Our very purpose, the right person, or the divine appointment that we’ve been asking for may be right in front of our faces, but we’re looking for our proverbial tie tacks!

Then, there was the second driver, the one who let his emotions get the best of him.

How often do you do that—let your emotions, hurt, unforgiveness, or offenses get the best of you?

That’s what the enemy wants. So he comes immediately to try to steal your joy. He wants to harm you. He wants to keep you from your purpose and your destination with God.

When you let your emotions get the best of you, you let him win.

Don’t let other people steal your joy. Don’t nurse hurts. Choose your responses wisely.

So, there we were—running short on time and without a ride to the airport.

They said it would be an hour until the next taxi could get to our location.

We didn’t have an hour.

Watch for Part Two of this story next week!

Drenda Keesee’s contagious zeal and humorous personal experiences help make her ministry of spiritual, emotional and relational wholeness one that will bless your life and spark a new fire in your spirit.

A wife of over 30 years and a mother of five children, Drenda has ministered at churches, seminars, and conferences, and through the mediums of television and radio, for more than 20 years.

Her books, The New Vintage Family, Better Than You Think, and She Gets It are available wherever books are sold. In these heartfelt books, Drenda shares her personal journey and the life lessons that have brought her to where she is today, as well as practical answers that all people need to live a joyful life.

Drenda and her husband Gary founded Faith Life Now, a ministry designed to spread the message of freedom in the areas of finances, faith, marriage and family. Faith Life Now hosts conferences worldwide, and sponsors both Fixing the Money Thing, which Drenda co-hosts with her husband Gary, and Drenda.

Through their own life experiences, the Keesees have found the principles from God’s Word to be powerful and effective. At one point, Drenda was a young, suicidal feminist with no hope of ever being “good enough” for her own standards of perfection. She never wanted the “inconvenience” of a husband or children, and she was on her own path to success. But the stress of trying to achieve perfection and perform for love left her broken and used. She had success, but it was nothing compared to the pain and loneliness it had also brought.

That’s when God got a hold of her heart. It was there—at her lowest point—that she found the One who accepted and loved her, faults and all. Since that transformation, Drenda has had a passion to reach women who find themselves where she once was.

She married Gary after attending college, and there she found herself in a personal boot camp of sorts. She says, “I cried and told God, ‘I can do anything but be a wife and mother.’” She committed to learning how to do it God’s way. Through the many years of raising their children and struggling to make ends meet, Drenda learned from their mistakes. “I didn’t know how to be a wife and mother, but God saved our marriage, taught us how to parent our children for success, showed us how to have financial success, and then irony of all ironies, He called us to ministry.” It’s truly because of these life experiences that Drenda can now share so many insightful principles for people who are now going through the same struggles.

Gary and Drenda pastor Faith Life Church at The Now Center in New Albany, Ohio and also are the CEOs of Forward Financial Group.