Faithful in the Little
 |
| I took a picture when I landed - but from below the clouds, you could only see a little glimpse of the glory. (Ah, such a perfect picture of life.) |
I dared to
trust God at His word. In the Bradley
Airport, I chose to trust that the good God I believed in for others was the
same for me. I realized I hadn’t been
receiving His love – too afraid that He would reject me like so many others in
my past. I surrendered everything again,
acknowledging that He was Lord and I was – well – not. His peace spread through my body – sweet and
light – cream poured into cold brew coffee.
And with that, I began to pray with a renewed intimacy – one I hadn’t
experienced in quite some time.
“Help me to
trust You when it comes to Your perfect timing,” I wrote in the first page of
my eighteenth Jesus journal (I’m kind of a journal junkie).
I knew –
and the Lord knew – that I spoke of His perfect timing in regards to the big things
of the future. You know – a job after
school, if I’d end up being a nurse on a ship in Africa (check out Mercy
Ships), where I’d live, maybe a man to share my life with, maybe babies one
day, if I’d just foster kiddos as a single woman, if I’d ever publish any words
that would mean something to someone.
Let’s be honest, all of the typical questions that my heart brings up as
I try to fall asleep at night.
And then I
noticed the time. I was supposed to have
boarded the plane fifteen minutes ago.
The man working at the desk made an announcement: “We’re still waiting
for a flight attendant. You can’t board
until she gets here. Thank you for your
patience.” With the new peace I had, and
the excitement of seeing my friend in Colorado, I went back to reading with no
worries. But another half an hour passed
by, and no flight attendant. I noticed
anxiety building – wondering if I’d be able to catch my connecting flight. After talking to the woman who sat across
from me, I decided to ask the man at the desk what would happen if I were to
miss it.
“Well, it
looks like there is only one flight a day to Colorado Springs out of
Atlanta. So we’d be able to get you a
hotel and you could get the flight tomorrow at 11:30 am.”
My mind
started racing. I began to get
discouraged. I felt the frustration
start to build. I went back to my seat
and took a deep breath. I joked with the
lady across from me; I was afraid tears would come if I didn’t laugh about
it.
Finally, we
began boarding an hour behind schedule.
I settled in next to the couple from Austin, Texas and decided to
preoccupy my mind with more of Lysa’s challenging words. I sent a text to my friend alerting her that
I may or may not catch my connecting flight, and to please pray.
Halfway
through the flight – ginger ale and pretzels in hand – I realized I had just
prayed to trust in His perfect timing. I
tried not to roll my eyes at His sense of humor. In that moment, I felt all the tension leave
my body as I prayed. “Father, I choose to trust that Your timing is perfect in
the small things, too. I am not going to
let my feelings overshadow my trust in who You are. You are a good Father – not just to other
people, but to me as well. Even if I
don’t catch my connecting flight, it will be okay. For once, I’m going to believe You have good
things for me.”
A flight
attendant (I briefly wondered if she was the one we had waited for) was making
her way up the aisle – she was letting people know the status of their
connecting flights. I prayed she would
have good news for me. Then, as my heart
and mind fought each other – anxieties versus trust, truth versus lies – I
turned to look out the window. I
couldn’t believe it. I let out a giggle
and could feel the goofy grin grow.
Just
outside of my dirty airplane window was a bright double rainbow. And I knew that I’d make it. I knew, in that moment, God’s rich and
beautiful promises that He has made are for me, too. He is
faithful in the little things right now, and knowing this can help me trust Him
to be faithful in the big things tomorrow.
It was as though Jesus gave me the most beautiful present and it was
just for me. But then it was pressed
upon my heart to share this moment. I
turned to the Austin, Texas wife, “Hey, look – a double rainbow!”
“Oh my
goodness, I’ve never seen a double rainbow before! That’s so beautiful. Look,
honey!”
I will
admit it – I almost started crying. I
definitely felt choked up. But it’s
because there was so much joy in sharing this moment. In sharing God’s glory and goodness with
another soul, He is magnified even more.
And I realize now, not only is the Lord reminding me that He’s faithful
in the little and the big. He is also
telling me that if I want to share God’s goodness and glory one day at work
with patients whether in a hospital or on a ship – in wherever He has me,
whether that is Massachusetts or Colorado – in a relationship with a man who
loves Jesus, whether someday soon or a very distant date in time – in the
context of motherhood, whether the kiddos are mine biologically or not – in
whatever opportunities He blesses me with, whether as a published author or not,
then I should start being faithful in
the little things right now, to start building a greater faithfulness for the
big things tomorrow.
We don’t
know what the next hour holds. As someone
who knows life’s uncertainty with an intimacy that I hadn’t ever wanted, I am
fully aware that we aren’t promised tomorrow.
But if we let down our walls that we mistakenly think will protect us,
and choose to believe God is exactly who He says He is – we get to partake in
the joy of His faithfulness and experience His protection as our Perfect
Papa. We can walk freely in His
love. We can give Him the hurts from our
past and, at the same time, recognize these past hurts do not define us. We are beautiful daughters and sons of the
King – and He accepts us fully. We can
forgive and move on, walking in a victory we’ve only dreamed of.
“Colorado
Springs? Yes, you’ll have time to make
your connecting flight. We managed to
make up some lost time in flight.”
Whatever He has in front of you
right now, may you choose to believe you are perfectly loved and obey Him when
He says to share that love. Watch in
amazement as He restores what you thought was completely lost. He is God, friend. Not you.
Not me. Let Him be God and let
Him love you. And it is from this place
of living loved that you can bless others and your joy can grow even more. He is faithful through all of it. I may not know for sure what my future looks
like, but I’m thankful that I can trust Him to lead me each step of the
way. And I want to be faithful in
whatever He blesses me with – whatever He calls me to right now.
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in
much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” ~
Luke 16:10
“His pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the
LORD his God.” ~ 2 Chronicles 26:16
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I
will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
~ 2 Chronicles 7:14
“If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you
to follow – to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold
fast to him – then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and
you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.” ~ Deuteronomy
11:22-23
“Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to
them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they listen or fail to
listen.” ~ Ezekiel 3:11
Comments
Post a Comment