A few weeks ago a friend and I arrived back at the Miami airport after a week of service in Costa Rica. (More on that week later) We were tired and a little worried that we wouldn't make our flight to St. Louis which was two short hours from the time we landed.
Once the plane landed we sped off to customs, trying to pass as many people as possible. This was no easy task as they had the same idea we did. It was speed walking foot race down a long hallway to...a huge line of people. Having never been to Miami airport or their Customs department more panic started to rise.
One staff member was trying to direct hundreds of tired, impatient travels. I thought maybe Customs was just around the corner but I had no idea how long we would have to wait in the hallway. A few of the travelers were saying they had waited an hour and a half. We would never make our flight.
More panic started to rise.
After less than ten minutes they let us turn the corner...to another huge line. With Customs no where in sight, people really started to push and shove. I had raced ahead of my friend because I had the checked bag in my name with our coffee and honey. The line looked long but it moved fast but we still were not told how long before we got to Customs. While waiting in line I looked up later flights for St. Louis.
As it turns out Customs wasn't that far away and the lines moved very quickly. In fact, from the time we landed to the time we arrived at our gate only an hour and thirty minutes passed. We had thirty minutes to spare.
Once on the plane, I reflected on the past two hours. I thought about how scared we were that we would miss our flight. I thought about how spending a week of absolutely no rushing being forced to into the craziness that is the US Customs. I thought about the rush of excitement as we raced through the airport. I thought about if the staff just told us how long we had to wait we wouldn't have been so scared.
I thought about how this is the same in the spiritual life as well. I don't know about you, but God has never told me how long I have to wait for the things I want or the things He's calling me to. We often get angry when we don't have all the answers. It comes from feeling panicked, which comes from not being in control. But maybe it's a good thing we don't know what's coming We can get complacent. I know I can. Not knowing is apart of the adventure. It was exciting to race through the airport- we felt like we were on the Amazing Race.
God is calling us to be open to the adventure. He is calling us to trust in Him; to stay focused on the task at hand. Sometimes on the adventure we're called to relax one minute and jump into a crazy stressful situation the next. We never know what's going to happen, but that's just apart of the adventure. We need to know that God will take care of us.
Once the plane landed we sped off to customs, trying to pass as many people as possible. This was no easy task as they had the same idea we did. It was speed walking foot race down a long hallway to...a huge line of people. Having never been to Miami airport or their Customs department more panic started to rise.
One staff member was trying to direct hundreds of tired, impatient travels. I thought maybe Customs was just around the corner but I had no idea how long we would have to wait in the hallway. A few of the travelers were saying they had waited an hour and a half. We would never make our flight.
More panic started to rise.
After less than ten minutes they let us turn the corner...to another huge line. With Customs no where in sight, people really started to push and shove. I had raced ahead of my friend because I had the checked bag in my name with our coffee and honey. The line looked long but it moved fast but we still were not told how long before we got to Customs. While waiting in line I looked up later flights for St. Louis.
As it turns out Customs wasn't that far away and the lines moved very quickly. In fact, from the time we landed to the time we arrived at our gate only an hour and thirty minutes passed. We had thirty minutes to spare.
Once on the plane, I reflected on the past two hours. I thought about how scared we were that we would miss our flight. I thought about how spending a week of absolutely no rushing being forced to into the craziness that is the US Customs. I thought about the rush of excitement as we raced through the airport. I thought about if the staff just told us how long we had to wait we wouldn't have been so scared.
I thought about how this is the same in the spiritual life as well. I don't know about you, but God has never told me how long I have to wait for the things I want or the things He's calling me to. We often get angry when we don't have all the answers. It comes from feeling panicked, which comes from not being in control. But maybe it's a good thing we don't know what's coming We can get complacent. I know I can. Not knowing is apart of the adventure. It was exciting to race through the airport- we felt like we were on the Amazing Race.
God is calling us to be open to the adventure. He is calling us to trust in Him; to stay focused on the task at hand. Sometimes on the adventure we're called to relax one minute and jump into a crazy stressful situation the next. We never know what's going to happen, but that's just apart of the adventure. We need to know that God will take care of us.
