Page 9 - July 2015 Catalyst

a kingdom man is PrePared
By Tony Evans
For 42 years, I’ve been making small regular deposits in this bank of experience: educa- tion and training. And on January 15, the bal- ance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal.
—US Airways Captain Chesley “Sully” Sul- lenberger, in an interview with CBS Evening News, June 12, 2009
In January 2009, birds f lew into the engines of US Airways Flight 1549 immediately after the plane’s takeoff from New York’s LaGuar- dia Airport. Both engines simultaneously shut down. The only option was to ditch the plane in the Hudson River. Doing so with- out accruing fatalities was unlikely—even for a veteran pilot, flight instructor, and accident investigator like Captain Chesley B. Sullen- berger III.
Yet Sullenberger took charge of the realm for which he was responsible. While pas- sengers cried out for someone to bring order
to the chaos, Sullenberger kept the plane just high enough to clear the George Washing- ton Bridge and performed a perfect textbook ditching. All souls survived in the “Miracle on the Hudson.”
Captain Sullenberger had never guided an 80-ton piece of metal onto the water’s surface. But he had learned aircraft maneuvering in- side and out. His previous 19,000 hours of flight time had prepared him with the skills and mind-set to rule the realm of his plane well, rather than his plane ruling him.
Men, the mastery of your kingdom under God’s authority demands wholehearted preparation. Some moments may appear uneventful, but each is an opportunity to administer order, authority, and provision to your domain. Each day provides a choice to align your life under God’s authority, to exer- cise and sharpen your leadership, to prepare. When chaos enters your kingdom, you will be ready.
July 2015
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