Friday, August 26, 2011

Lessons from an airport. . .

So, if you have been following my facebook updates, you know my trip to South Carolina and Bob Jones did not go as planned. Due to severe thunderstorms and other problems, I spent the night in the airport and arrived 14 hours late in South Carolina. I was frustrated and not thinking very Christian thoughts to the people with the airport. But God used these circumstances that I would have rather avoided to teach me a couple of lessons I needed to learn.

1. God has a plan. And His plan is different (and better) than anything I could come up with. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." I tend to want to have my life all planned out, right to the smallest detail. Sometimes God has to step in and say, "Hey, Steph? Remember, I'm in control here. Trust me. I have a wonderful plan for you if you will let me work it out. Give me control." Honestly, God is going to work out His will anyway, and my frustrations, my rising stress level, aren't going to bother Him. He controls the universe; a cancelled flight or two won't mess up His plan--they were a part of His plan.

2. The second thing God taught me was to count my blessings. Spending a night sleeping on a duffle bag is a great way to re-evaluate. Suddenly you appreciate a comfortable mattress, soft pillow, warm blankets (or at least a jacket) and uninterrupted sleep. These are all things I never thanked God for. Trust me, I was thanking Him last night. If I had known I would be sleeping on my bag, I wold have packed a pillow in it instead of shoes and books. Sore muscles the next morning reminded me to thank Him for all the days I woke up pain free. Yes, I know that compared to the suffering that some Christians are going through, these are just little problems. But at the same time, God removed the things I was comfortable with, bed, shower, food, (yes the airport had food, but it was expensive and gross looking), etc. and left me with much less. But I had God. And He is all I need.

1 comment:

  1. Praise the Lord for the way He teaches us, eh? I've spent a night or two sleeping in airports and God was trying to teach me the same lessons. :)

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