When the King James Version of the Bible originally appeared in 1611, a well-respected Anglican cleric claimed that it “sounds like yesterday’s newspaper, and actually denies the divinity and messiahship of Jesus Christ.” Many pastors refused to use it in worship, and some even forbid their parishioners from reading it at home. In fact, when the Pilgrims set sail for the New World in 1620, it was unanimously agreed that the KJV would not be permitted on board.

In 1662 Samuel Pepys attended the premier of a drama being featured for the first time on the London stage. That night he recorded in his diary: “It was the most insipid, tiresome, ridiculous play that I ever saw in my entire life.” What he had just seen performed was William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

The morning after Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address, a newspaper editor in Harrisburg wrote: “For the sake of the reader, I will pass over the silly remarks given by the President yesterday. Indeed, for the sake of the nation, let us hope that the veil of oblivion shall soon fall over them, so that they will no more be repeated—or even thought of.”

In 1903 the astronomer Simon Newcomb published an article, which was widely praised throughout the scientific community as “mathematical proof that no combination of substances, machinery, or forces could ever be united in a vehicle by which men shall fly long distances through the air.” Apparently, Orville and Wilbur Wright never read the article, since they lifted off from Kitty Hawk later that same year!

When the prototype of a new invention was demonstrated at the 1939 World’s Fair, a reviewer from the New York Times wrote: “The problem with this invention is that people must sit quietly and keep their eyes glued on a tiny screen. It has little chance of succeeding, inasmuch as the average American family hasn’t the time for it.” What he was describing was the introduction of the television.

I suppose anecdotes like these could be multiplied indefinitely because there will always be those who stand in the presence of greatness without recognizing it. Even Jesus discovered that “Prophets are not without honor … except in their own hometown” (Mk. 6:4). The very people who knew Jesus best—or at least thought they did—were not interested in what he had to say. The opportunity was there, but they missed it.

Why is it that we often fail to appreciate what is right in front of us? Is it because we are too preoccupied? Or too limited in our perspective? Or too comfortable with the status quo?

It could well be all of the above. But my hunch is that it’s because we want to live planned lives … whereas the Bible teaches us to live prepared lives. To be prepared is always to be open to surprises. It’s knowing that God works in mysterious ways, and that the winds of the Holy Spirit could set us sailing off in a new direction at any given moment. It’s the willingness to keep moving forward in faith, even when life isn’t quite working out the way we initially planned. It’s the courage to change things when they need changing, and the wisdom to leave them alone when they don’t. But more than anything else, I think it’s the ability to see opportunities when they arise … and then to seize them!