Written weeks ago and I forgot to publish.
When I listen to that “still small voice” when it urges me to go one way, even though my common sense screams at me to run the other direction, circumstances usually end up better than what I had thought, or imagined.
You hem me in – behind and before;
You have laid your hand upon me.
Psalm 139:5
I flew to Pittsburgh this past Monday to be in the corporate office of the company I work for specifically to meet with my new manager. The United flight was full leaving Seattle, but they book seats anyway. I knew this as it’s happened before. Previous times I’ve been able to get on the flight but not this time.
The gate agent was very friendly as it was 7:15 in the morning and promptly and efficiently booked me through San Francisco. (Why be grumpy about this? I just received a free ticket! And if you’ve done this with United, you know there are no black out dates, or fees, and the ticket allows you to fly anywhere in the lower 48! What a deal! I’m able to bring my daughter with me the next time in November.) The flight to SF left an hour and a half later than my original flight. Not bad for a waiting time. Not bad until the news was given over the loud speaker that SF was fogged in and their air traffic control was delaying planes. My only hope for getting to Pittsburgh was for the connecting flight to be effected also.
We landed in sunny beautiful San Francisco one-half hour before my flight to Pittsburgh was due to take off. The clincher was our gate was in terminal 3 and my flight was leaving from terminal 1. And the Departure board read - On Time!
“Egad, another adventure God? How in the world do I find Air Train to get me to terminal 1? I’ve never done this before! Will You please help me, Lord? I shouldn’t miss this flight, I need to get there!” (Praying this as if the company can’t continue to function without me. How self-righteous.)
I deplaned and didn’t see a gate agent to ask which way to go. As I prayed, I followed the crowd, but didn’t see any signs for Air Train. At that moment, the “still small voice” nudged me to turn around and head in the direction that didn’t make any sense to me. But I did it anyway. And guess what? Several gates down the hallway and around the bend was a sign with an up arrow that stated, “Air Train”. Thank you Lord for taking care of me! I still may have missed my flight, but I obeyed and You came through like you always do for me! Thank you for this “heart print” of your love today.
Was I full of joy? Well, no. Under my breath I complained about having to change terminals and enter terminal 1 through security again. I didn’t tie my shoes and went running down the passageway to my gate, HOPING I wouldn’t step on my shoelace and fall. (Thank you Lord for keeping my shoelaces from getting tangled, or stepped on by the opposing foot. And next time, would you keep me from talking all of this out loud so people around me don’t think I’m nuts!)
I made the plane as the 4th person to the last to board. Surprisingly, with a window seat with NO ONE sitting in the middle. Thank you Lord again! The man on the aisle and I smiled and proceeded to spread out.
During this flight (4 ½ hours), I decided to take my own advice from the previous post and pull out my traveling bible and bible study. My seat mate proceeded to order rum and cokes.
You hem me in – behind and before;
You have laid your hand upon me.
Psalm 139:5
I flew to Pittsburgh this past Monday to be in the corporate office of the company I work for specifically to meet with my new manager. The United flight was full leaving Seattle, but they book seats anyway. I knew this as it’s happened before. Previous times I’ve been able to get on the flight but not this time.
The gate agent was very friendly as it was 7:15 in the morning and promptly and efficiently booked me through San Francisco. (Why be grumpy about this? I just received a free ticket! And if you’ve done this with United, you know there are no black out dates, or fees, and the ticket allows you to fly anywhere in the lower 48! What a deal! I’m able to bring my daughter with me the next time in November.) The flight to SF left an hour and a half later than my original flight. Not bad for a waiting time. Not bad until the news was given over the loud speaker that SF was fogged in and their air traffic control was delaying planes. My only hope for getting to Pittsburgh was for the connecting flight to be effected also.
We landed in sunny beautiful San Francisco one-half hour before my flight to Pittsburgh was due to take off. The clincher was our gate was in terminal 3 and my flight was leaving from terminal 1. And the Departure board read - On Time!
“Egad, another adventure God? How in the world do I find Air Train to get me to terminal 1? I’ve never done this before! Will You please help me, Lord? I shouldn’t miss this flight, I need to get there!” (Praying this as if the company can’t continue to function without me. How self-righteous.)
I deplaned and didn’t see a gate agent to ask which way to go. As I prayed, I followed the crowd, but didn’t see any signs for Air Train. At that moment, the “still small voice” nudged me to turn around and head in the direction that didn’t make any sense to me. But I did it anyway. And guess what? Several gates down the hallway and around the bend was a sign with an up arrow that stated, “Air Train”. Thank you Lord for taking care of me! I still may have missed my flight, but I obeyed and You came through like you always do for me! Thank you for this “heart print” of your love today.
Was I full of joy? Well, no. Under my breath I complained about having to change terminals and enter terminal 1 through security again. I didn’t tie my shoes and went running down the passageway to my gate, HOPING I wouldn’t step on my shoelace and fall. (Thank you Lord for keeping my shoelaces from getting tangled, or stepped on by the opposing foot. And next time, would you keep me from talking all of this out loud so people around me don’t think I’m nuts!)
I made the plane as the 4th person to the last to board. Surprisingly, with a window seat with NO ONE sitting in the middle. Thank you Lord again! The man on the aisle and I smiled and proceeded to spread out.
During this flight (4 ½ hours), I decided to take my own advice from the previous post and pull out my traveling bible and bible study. My seat mate proceeded to order rum and cokes.
I read in Proverbs two of my favorite verses.
First,
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”
Proverbs 16:3
This is a tricky verse. And I believe the key is in the first half of the phrase – Commit to the Lord whatever you do –
That is, commit (give over fully, don’t keep anything back, and don’t take it back either, repeatedly hand it to Him);
to the Lord (no one or nothing else);
whatever you do (this is pretty self-explanatory – but what does God say to do in any given circumstance? There is a verse in the bible, go look one up. Don’t know how? In the back of most bibles is dictionary/concordance. Take the key word, or words, in what you are trying to find and start looking in this section. Sometimes, I’ll start with certain words, and those will lead me to other words and to the verses God has intended. Another loving “heart print” for you from God.)
The bottom line of this verse is to give your will over to God’s will for your life.
And please, don’t get me wrong – I don’t always follow the “still small voice”. It also doesn’t always give me what I want. God could have meant for me to miss the plane, but would have had a reason for me.
The second verse,
In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9
I sign off this blog for you to meditate and discern this verse for your own life.
God Bless you and keep you this week.
Yours in Christ,
DIG (Discovering Intimacy with God)
First,
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”
Proverbs 16:3
This is a tricky verse. And I believe the key is in the first half of the phrase – Commit to the Lord whatever you do –
That is, commit (give over fully, don’t keep anything back, and don’t take it back either, repeatedly hand it to Him);
to the Lord (no one or nothing else);
whatever you do (this is pretty self-explanatory – but what does God say to do in any given circumstance? There is a verse in the bible, go look one up. Don’t know how? In the back of most bibles is dictionary/concordance. Take the key word, or words, in what you are trying to find and start looking in this section. Sometimes, I’ll start with certain words, and those will lead me to other words and to the verses God has intended. Another loving “heart print” for you from God.)
The bottom line of this verse is to give your will over to God’s will for your life.
And please, don’t get me wrong – I don’t always follow the “still small voice”. It also doesn’t always give me what I want. God could have meant for me to miss the plane, but would have had a reason for me.
The second verse,
In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9
I sign off this blog for you to meditate and discern this verse for your own life.
God Bless you and keep you this week.
Yours in Christ,
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