My Dear Class,
Can you believe we're almost sophomores in college?! Life truly is
fleeting. Another thing God has been teaching me is that life is out of
control. Perhaps some of you can identify with me in this.
I went to visit Michelle in Vancouver over Spring Break (which was so
wonderful) and was struck by the irony of our "well-run airports." I
never knew that a snowstorm in Alaska could throw off the plans of a
college kid trying to get back to North Carolina and hundreds of other
travelers. In short, our flight was delayed which then caused many of us
to miss connecting flights. It was the reaction of myself and others
around me, however that taught me the most about air travel and life.
People freaked out...they had important business meetings to attend,
family to get home to, some of them were on the last leg of a long
journey. They nagged the airline personell who were trying frantically
to reschedule connecting flights, they threw bags, they called family,
they drank alcohol. In the meantime I sat there thinking, "what in the
world am I going to do?" Anxious thoughts about missed classes, worried
friends, and parents waiting at the airport plagued my mind. But God was
gracious enough to give me a sense of His spirit, and slowly the worries
were replaced with a sense of purpose and peace. No amount of
frustration and cruelty would get me home faster, the situation was out
of my control. What I could do was show others a peace and graciousness
which could only be credited to GOd's spirit at work in me. What better
time to be a witness? It's in the stress and suffering, not in times of
calm that our nature as children of God is most clearly shown to a lost
world. After a couple hours of waiting our plane finally boarded, I was
going to have to spend the night in Seattle, my connecting flights had
been rebooked, and eventually I would make it home. The situation had
been resolved, and I was at peace, so I thought.
The next morning when I arrived at the airport, I waited in a long line
to hear some very disheartening news: I was not on the computer. I knew
there was a reason I despised technology. Somehow that mean little
machine had managed to forget that I had to get home. The prospects did
not look promising, the next flight I could get on was at 10:00PM. I had
some serious talks, mostly one-sided, with GOd about Him knowing just
how much I could bear. But I tried, and I confess I did not do very
well, to continue to trust that God would provide all my needs. I spent
a couple bleak hours in the airport feeling helpless and alone. My
future felt completely out of my control. The ironic thing is that it
always is; it's just that in those bleary airport hours God gently
reminds us of it. Needless to say, I got home, in fact, a lot sooner
than I expected, God did indeed provide all my needs.
Yet the situation made me think a lot about how I handle life when I'm
not in control, when I have desperate needs that I can not meet. In
Numbers 20 Moses faces a similar situation. The Israelites are whining,
questioning his leadership for the upmthieth time. They have a very real
need and there is nothing that Moses as a man can do to provide water
for them. So he goes before God, frustrated and desperate and God tells
him what to do. But for some reason he does not follow God's
instructions implicitly, he hits the rock instead of just speaking to
it. And God is not pleased, but listen to his rebuke:"Because you did
not TRUST me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites,
you will not bring the community into the land I give them" Numbers
20:12. Notice what God did not say, He did not say because you didn't
follow my instructions perfectly, He said because you did not Trust me
enough. These are poignant words and I know they have applications in my
life. In the "airport delays" of our lives it is not our lack of
strength or power, but our lack of trust in God to work in and provide
for us that gets us into power. God did not ask me to go out there and
push the airplane, He asked me to trust Him, because my trusting Him
honors Him as holy in the sight of the other people stuck in the
airport.
Perhaps a "snowstorm in Alaska" has messed up your plans and thrown your
life out of control. Maybe its upcoming exams, finding a job and place
to live for the summer, sickness, friendships, I don't know. I do know
that "flurries" hit my life almost everyday, small circumstances out of
my control. Whatever it is, be it big or small in your life, remember
that God is calling you to trust Him and in so doing to honor Him as
holy in the eyes of the people. It is a difficult but rewarding purpose.
And the good news is that in this process of becoming more trusting
children there is grace. Remember that whether our lives reflect God or
not, through His Son's blood God sees us as the righteouness of Christ
and we can approach our Father with confidence to seek what we need.
That's good news for me!
Love and prayers always,
Becca Boo :)