Our long weekend in Tennessee was infused with basketball — scheduled games and tournaments. With two grandsons playing the sport and a granddaughter cheering basketball teams to an expected victory, we were regulars in the school bleachers. During one of the games and a tasty bag of popcorn, one very vocal coach with a megaphone voice shouted more than once to his players, “Get where you’re supposed to be!” Obviously that particular player understood his coach’s command because positions switched immediately.

We left the games — all of them with a victory, and I also left with that particular directive in my mind. As we drove home I remembered some times I had heard that same admonishment in my spirit. Once I was at a college dance my date and I had been asked to attend. It turned out to be among people I didn’t really know and in an environment that was headed downhill. My daddy wasn’t there, but I heard his voice plainly, “Get where you’re supposed to be.” I didn’t have to ask him to repeat it. I knew instinctively it was behavior that my parents had instilled in me that I was expected to follow. My date was kind enough to take me out of that environment.

Sometimes I’m in a worship service where God’s Spirit is speaking to me along with others. Then a distraction comes through others in attendance who haven’t sensed the same movement of His Spirit. It could be whispering with those next to them or checking out social media. Perhaps church leaders should encourage all people in worship attendance with that direction posted on those overhead screens: “Get where you’re supposed to be! Seek God in an attitude of worship.”

As a parent that’s gone through the joys and challenges of raising teenagers, I reminded them more than a few times to get where you’re supposed to be. Hopefully they will have matured enough to remember that advice to pass on to their children and grandchildren.

If Jesus were to speak in an audible voice to His children, I wonder what he would say in some of the circumstances of our lives. I’ve found it quite easy to nurse grudges and remember wrongs done to me rather than to forgive and forget those things which are behind. When convicted of those ungodly “harborings” and responding as Jesus instructed, I know to “get where I’m supposed to be.”

My concern continues to grow for the Church and how some within the body want to dilute portions of God’s Word. They seem to think the churches would be more appealing to those outside its walls if we could waver just a bit on some of God’s truth. They suggest that a little bit of laxity in this generation which is seeing so much change in lifestyles and behaviors would help the church be more relevant in this “evolving” world.

As I sat as a spectator in that basketball game this weekend, I watched the team as their coach shouted out instructions from the sideline. When the competition got stiff and our team appeared to lose their concentration in their practiced techniques, a shout from their coach made all the difference as they positioned themselves where they were supposed to be.

That coach’s directive will apply to life. We must stay in God’s Word and live by its truths that never change. And if there’s any doubts or questions of where we’re supposed to be, we’ll find the answers in the wisdom of His Word.

Letters for Camille Anding may be sent to P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, MS 39602.