This week I traveled to Tanzania. Traveling is not my friend. The story of my traveling life is delayed flights…seriously. When they are on time I know I am abundantly blessed. Every leg of my journey was a sequence in delay, and, of course, with that came the concern that I’d make the next leg. There’s not a thing you can do about delays; and, the reasons for them are valid. So, it doesn’t do any good to fret, to fume, to gripe, or to complain. The best thing you can do is stay positive (it helps you, if nobody else), and prayerful. I squeaked onto each subsequent airplane, until the last one. By the time they took care of the routine maintenance that had to be done on my plane (the car’s version of an oil change), my five co-travelers and I knew we would miss our flight out of Zurich to Dar Es Salaam. Unless……God chose to delay the Zurich flight for us. If anything, we would have missed it by about 20 minutes. I quickly sent out a prayer e-letter, asking for a miracle…
God had other plans; and, His ways are often higher than ours. I’ve learned to trust that fact. Just because we missed our flight (by the way, it was still sitting at the gate when we got to it, but there was NO ONE servicing the gate, so of course, there we stood watching our flight just sitting, and no way to get on it), also doesn’t mean that He is any less GOOD, nor any less SOVEREIGN. I’ve learned to trust His character, as well. Now, we just needed to see what He had in store for the Thrive-Five (just for reference, Thrive – http://thriveministry.org – is the ministry I am serving with in TZ). The Father’s heart was set on sending us to Istanbul, and giving us all an extra 8 hours to bond. I wasn’t against that, but a 43 hour trip half-way across the globe wasn’t exactly my idea of fun.
Then God…somehow, He always shows up, either gives us something to do, or something to learn. In this particular instance, it was something to learn. Just as we were getting ready to land in Zurich, I pulled out my Bible and journal, and began reading where I left off. God had a word for my Thrive-Five! It really was a word we’d need for the moment, and for many moments to come in my African-homeland. As I finished reading Peter’s words to the dispersed church in his second book, he poses a question for the believers who are in the midst of some trials. Here’s the question, and, it’s worth pondering: “So what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness (vs 11 to the end of the chapter)?” He had my attention – how should I then live? Here was his word for us weary travelers (after all, aren’t we ALL WEARY TRAVELERS in this land that’s not our home)… He isn’t shy about his response, and there are four BIGGIES.
We are to be WAITING PEOPLE. I don’t know about you, but I DO NOT do waiting well. This IS NOT my home…so I must learn to WAIT, and wait always means with a heart of HOPE!
We are to be DILIGENT PEOPLE. Of course, we are to be found, hopefully without spot or blemish, but this was the best part: we are to be people diligent in peace. OK…that means we cultivate a restful heart in the midst of the weary traveling…
We are to be PATIENT PEOPLE. Naturally, He’d say “have patience” (and, actually, I could hear him singing the little Psalty the Song-Book Song I used to sing to my kids when they were little, just in a deeper voice).
We are to be GROWING PEOPLE. Always seeking to grow in grace, leaning into Jesus, so we look a lot more LIKE Jesus.
It was a great reminder to me— Here is what the heart of a Jesus-traveler really is like. They wait in hope with patience; they are diligent to cultivate peace in the midst of the pieces; and they seek to grow in the grace of The Lord Jesus Christ. It was a good word. A good lesson. And, Istanbul was a pretty fun airport! I’m glad I didn’t miss it.