When You Know This Isn’t The Way The World Is Supposed To Work

Zig Ziglar tells the story of a man who was waiting in the airport for his flight. Having some time to spare he stepped on a scale that promised to tell you the future along with your weight. Inserting a coin he received a ticket that read, “Your name is John Jones, you weigh 188 pounds, and you are going to catch the 2:20 to Boston.”

Amazed at the accuracy of the machine, he quickly inserted another coin. Once again his ticket read, “Your name is still John Jones, you still weigh 188 pounds, and you are still going to catch the 2:20 to Boston.” Believing someone was pulling a prank; he went into the men’s room and changed his clothes to fool the trickster.

Quietly sneaking back up to the machine, he inserted another coin. This time the ticket read, “Your name is still John Jones, you still weigh 188 pounds, but you just missed the 2:20 to Boston.” We have all felt at times like someone who has missed their flight.

In the movie Grand Canyon, Kevin Kline’s character is being carjacked in a seedy part of town. Danny Glover plays a tow truck driver who stops to help him. The crooks begin to threaten both men. Glover’s character then tells them, “This isn’t the way the world is supposed to work.” He pleads with the criminals to have compassion, at which point they reluctantly walk away without committing violence.

Glover’s character is right; much of what we see is not the way the world is supposed to work. In light of that, let me share a simple story that illustrates where we can begin to turn things around.

Serving as a police officer in Harlem in 1960, John McCormack found himself facing four armed robbers. Trying to calm the men down as they pointed their shotguns at him he told them, “You don’t want to do this. How much did you get anyway?” The men had stolen less than thirty dollars. They agreed it was not worth their lives and surrendered.

Shaken, John resigned from the force. Over the next few years he became a successful businessman, but in the end he eventually lost all of his earnings and his fiancé left him. In desperation he decided to commit suicide and sat on a beach to contemplate how to end his life.

Suddenly a stranger named Abe walked up and told him, “Son, your ship isn’t coming in, you must go get it.” John then began to share his story about losing everything. Unimpressed Abe asked him if he spoke English. John assured him he did. Abe then asked him if he knew how to make change from a twenty dollar bill. Again, John answered yes. Then Abe asked him if he had any friends, and John again told him he did.

It was at this point Abe told him pointedly, “Son, do you have any idea how many people came to this country with no money, who couldn’t speak English and had no friends to borrow from, and yet made millions? Any man who knows more about his liabilities than his assets is in big trouble.” John carefully began to reevaluate his life and then created massive changes.

I encourage you to take a careful inventory of your life today and truly consider all the assets you possess. Things like your character, relationships, talents, faith and unlimited potential. And then I can promise you, once you know more about your assets than your liabilities you will be amazed at how the world begins to work the way it was meant to.