Month: January 2020

When something like this happens, it must be documented. A supernatural experience of God’s goodness and closeness in my moment of fear and desperation:

My flight to Denver from Louisville, Kentucky, where I had been visiting my dear friend, was delayed. Which meant I probably wouldn’t make my next flight from Denver to San Francisco, which was the last flight of the night. Panic set in. Flying is already stressful enough- when things go wrong, I freak out.

As I was sorting out with the flight attendant whether to get on a different flight or not, I moved from my seat in the back of the plane to an empty seat further up, next to an older African American gentleman. At the point when I decided I might want to switch flights, it was too late and the cabin was prepared for takeoff. I settled into my seat and prepared to trust God with the consequences of my decision to stay on this flight (possibly having to stay the night in Denver).

All was going smoothly until we hit a rough patch of turbulence. Once again, the panic came and this time swallowed me whole. I prayed to God but the fear overcame me- my whole body convulsed with anxiety. I couldn’t stop the sobs that came; it felt like the end.

And then, all of a sudden, I was enveloped in love: the man next to me grasped my hand and steadied my body. He squeezed tight as I held onto him for my dear life. He was my saving angel. This was Jesus.

I looked to him out of my turmoil and saw his steady, reassuring, and concerned look. He was not afraid. I knew this man was sent to me by God. He asked me my name and told me everything was okay.

Finally we came out of the rough patch and found smooth air. The man still held my hand, and though relieved and eternally grateful, I began to feel uncomfortable. But he wanted to make sure I felt safe before he let go.

He introduced himself as Ken, a former United pilot. He had flown hundreds of these planes and reassured me the turbulence we had just gone through was nothing. I couldn’t believe it. God had placed me right next a former pilot to help me just when I needed it, knowing we were going to experience that turbulence, and knowing I would need to be comforted.

Ken knows the Lord and allowed Him to use him on that flight.

Had I not moved forward on the plane or changed flights, I would not have experienced His immense grace. And not only that, I caught my next flight and made it home safely. God is good.

The Lord is teaching me the discipline of waiting.

I feel as though my whole being is in a season of waiting right now: waiting for the winter to pass, waiting to be married, waiting to start my life.

But maybe I am waiting for the wrong things?

In Andrew Murray’s Waiting on God, he urges readers to practice the discipline of waiting only on God, and nothing and no one else. Maybe my focus is wrong- while I am waiting for certain things to happen in my life, God is asking me to direct my attention to Him in the waiting. So perhaps waiting isn’t really waiting at all, since He is already with me.

Perhaps the more I wait on Him, the less I will be concerned with time passing and getting the things I want, because He alone will be my satisfaction. Perhaps this is the very season He wants to transform and prepare me for what is to come, instead of just allowing time to pass without growth or change.

Waiting is hard, and there are right and wrong ways to do it. I don’t want to do it the way I’ve always done: rushing through, only to arrive to the anticipated thing and be disappointed it’s not everything I hoped and dreamed, meanwhile missing everything that God had been doing leading up to it.

Although so much good is ahead, and although I am becoming weary in the waiting, I have to believe that this can be the best time if I invite Him into it. I have to believe that He is sustaining me in the waiting and hoping to be my truest companion throughout. That He is working in and through me as I trust Him and surrender my impatience and frustration with the now. I have to believe that there is important work to be done here in the present, that I am exactly where I am supposed to be and have a purpose to fulfill.

Friends, our life is here and now, not in the future. Whatever you are waiting for, it will come, but you will regret if you don’t truly live on your way to it.