God in the small things

In reading my Bible one day two weeks ago, I came across a highlighted verse in Isaiah and stopped to read it.

You will keep in perfect peace

Him whose mind is steadfast,

Because he trusts in you.

Trust in the Lord forever,

For the Lord, the Lord is the Rock eternal.  Is 26:3-4 NIV

I stopped to think about this verse and to try to memorize it.  I have a terrible time memorizing anything, even Bible verses.  It takes me a long time to remember them well.  However, I digress from my story of God in the little things.  Let me continue…As is normal, I found the time I spent this particular morning with the Isaiah verse to be very beneficial during the day.  I could, at least, remember, “You will keep in perfect peace,” and I thought about that frequently during the day.  Because of that I did feel more at peace.  Stress seemed to be held at bay. But the real benefit came two days later.

It was two days later when we were leaving for our trip to Orlando.  I am not comfortable flying.  Even though I have flown a great deal, I still get nervous.  This time though, as we were preparing to leave, I had the Isaiah verse to think about.  So, I quietly prayed to God in the morning and asked him to keep me at perfect peace.  I have to stop here and fill you in on one important detail.  We were flying standby (also known as “pass riders”) since I used to work for the airline and continue to have flying benefits.  They are great; the price is right, but it adds a level of stress since planes are usually full these days.  Spring break with an Orlando destination magnified the problem.  The only empty seats on a plane to Orlando would have to be seats that belonged to someone who did not show up.  How many families traveling to Orlando for vacation do you think would miss their flights?  I’d guess zero to none.   Now you have the background of the situation  in mind.

We were traveling with my son and his family. So there were seven of us traveling standby and trying to get to Orlando.  The flights looked possible the night before, but in the morning when I checked the loads, all the flights were full.  Not only were all the flights full, but each had fifteen or more standby passengers listed, all trying to get to Orlando.  It seemed so hopeless, but God kept whispering, “perfect peace, my child.”  I’d like to say, I was at perfect peace, but that would not be entirely true.  I was more peaceful than I would have been had it not been for His reassurance, but it looked IMPOSSIBLE.

When we got to the airport, we found out there were six pass riders ahead of us in seniority, which means they would be boarded before us. Following them, there was my son’s five, then two more, and finally us.  So that meant fifteen people would have to miss the flight in order for my husband and I to get on the plane.  That does not happen on Orland flights during spring/Easter break weeks.  It just doesn’t.  Well, I found myself praying to God.

“Perfect peace God?  Well, then I believe you, but if you get us on this plane, let it somehow bring you glory too.”

What had I just prayed?  Glory?  Glory in getting my husband and myself on a flight to Orlando?  How could God get glory in that?  He would certainly get our thanks, but glory?  God had a big surprise in store for me that day.  He wanted me to have no doubt that his hand was on the situation.  So, he was going to show me glory even in the everyday.

As we waited, feeling a bit foolish for being hopeful, we heard my son’s name called.  He was on!  We said our goodbyes and told them we’d call  when we arrived in Florida.  They disappeared down the jet way.  The next thing we knew our name was called.  We were getting on too!  Thank you God, thank you.  We headed down the jet way.  As we waited in line at the plane door, ten more people came down behind us.  Twenty-five people were getting on this flight, the flight that had been booked full.  I knew then that God just had to be laughing.  The impossible was for my husband and I to get on, but God got his glory when he put ten people beyond the impossible on as well.  No one knew this but me.  No one, not even my husband, knew about my prayer at that time.  Did that matter to God?  No.  This was all about proving his faithfulness and demonstrating his glory in the process.  I think he also demonstrated joy because he had to be enjoying my astonishment.

By the way, one of the flight attendants made this statement as he walked down the aisle, “We never get pass riders on Orlando flights!”  He just did not know that God had a plan for my life that day,  and “never” means nothing to God.