If you have ever flown on an airplane before, you know there are some mandatory preparations that must be made before the pilot will allow the plane to leave the runway. Some of those include the reality that you must have your seat belt on, you must have your tray table up and in its locked position, and you must have your bags securely placed in the overhead bins or under the seat in front of you. If these things are not done, by even one person, that whole flight will be staying on the runway until everyone complies to those orders.
Many in the body of Christ have been feeling the engine running in the spirit, they know they are in their assigned seat on the plane, and they have been waiting for the plane to take off. Some people have gotten frustrated by the delay, others have given up on it ever taking off and still others have fallen asleep in their seat.
My question for you is, are you ready for takeoff? Not your neighbor, your pastor, your spouse, your friends, but you. Are you ready for takeoff? I am wondering if some of the delay we have been experiencing is the patience of God, who is waiting for everyone that is assigned to this plane to get themselves ready for takeoff. I am not saying this is the answer. I am just wondering, so instead of complaining, declaring and prophesying the delay is over, I have chosen to make sure all the preparations I have been called to make are completed, so I am ready for takeoff.
In the spirit, I have been hearing the Lord say, “Prepare for takeoff!” In 1 Kings 17, Elijah has an exchange with a widow from Zarephath while in the middle of a famine. Here is what their exchange is: “The word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there. I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.’ So he got up and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and said, ‘Please get a small cup of water for me to drink.’ As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, ‘Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.’ She said, ‘As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, but only a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a jar. I am gathering two sticks, that I can go in and make it for me and my son, so we may eat it and die.’ Elijah said to her, ‘Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make a little cake for me first, and bring it to me, and afterward, make some for your son and you, for thus says the Lord God of Israel: The barrel of meal will not run out, nor will the jar of oil empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ She went and did what Elijah told her to do, and she, he, and her household ate many days. The barrel of meal did not run out, nor did the jar of oil empty, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Elijah” (v.8-15).
The woman was gathering sticks in preparation for her death, but God was preparing her to live an abundant life. Much of the church is looking around them, and they are preaching preparation for death, but there is a small company of people who are preparing themselves internally to live, not in heaven someday, but on earth in a powerful way. I believe we are about to take off on the greatest adventure of our lives.
I believe we have been in training for this moment in history that we are entering. I believe we have moved from training to preparation for we are about to takeoff. While in church yesterday morning, the Lord showed me a rocket on a launch pad, and I heard a voice that said, “Get in.”
Many people are not preparing for they have been in the rocket before and it exploded on the launch pad, or shortly after takeoff it exploded in the air, but I believe the spirit of the Lord is inviting us to get in. This time is going to be different, once this rocket leaves the launch pad, it will not return without images of life, testimonies of healings and stories of deliverance.
It is time to prepare for takeoff, I can hear the captain telling us to take our seats, secure our bags and make sure our tray tables are in the locked and upright position. We are about to have the time of our lives! Prepare for takeoff.
Lisa Great is an author, speaker and blogger with Mouthpiece Ministries International. She has been in ministry for over 25 years, she has a BA in Youth and Family Studies, a MA in Education. She can be reached at mouthpieceministries.net;
Janet Perez Eckles 
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