I recently took a trip to go see my dad in Minnesota. The trip there and back had some frustrations but nothing too major it did however start me thinking about a few things.
So here's the story. (Please bear with me as I tell you.)
A few weeks before my trip I spent countless hours looking for the cheapest flights to nearby airports. You know how that goes, you have 10 windows open on google going back and forth between them comparing the prices. Just when you find the one you think is the best you take a quick peek at the other windows just to make sure it is the best deal and then when you hit the make a reservation button it says the price has changed or there are no more seats. UUGGHH!!! Well after a few times of doing that I finally secured a plane ticket and car rental.
Whew, what a relief!
All was good until the night before I was to leave. I got a text saying my flight has been canceled and they have booked me on another flight which is a lot earlier, like 3 hours earlier. So I got to the airport and made my way through the security lines. I started to take my computer and ipad out of my bag to put in the tray along with my 1 quart bag of personal care items and they tell me that I don’t have to take them out of my bags. “That is awesome”, I thought to myself, “but it would have been nice if they would have told me before I unpacked half my luggage.” Then I made my way to the plane that would take me to my first stop, Dallas. I remember flying through Dallas in high school and it was nice, well not so much any more. I felt like I was in a very low budget un-kept truck stop. What a disappointment it was. My next flight was on time and went smoothly, Praise The Lord.
I had 3 ½ days of good visits with my dad and stepmother in Minnesota. Then it was time to come back. Even after the terrible day of flying on the way there I was excited to head home, one because I missed my family and two because I really love flying and exploring airports. I was supposed to fly out at 6:30 am the next day but at 3:00 am I got a text that said my flight had been canceled and I was re-booked on a flight 4 hours later. That would take me not through Chicago like originally planned (I love Chicago O'hare Airport) but rather it would rout me through Dallas once again (big sigh of disappointment). Ok so here we go another day like the first. Once again I was at the airport in the security line and remembering that last time I didn't have to take out my electronics or my liquids. As I placed my bags on the conveyor they came by and asked me if I had any Liquids or electronics bigger than a cell phone. I said,”yes” and they told me that I needed to remove them and put them in a tub. “What are you kidding me they had just told me in wichita 5 days before that I didn't have to do that.” (Another UUGGHH moment!). Well that day was pretty much the same as the first day of flying except the planes were fuller and there were many mixed up seats that took a lot of time for people to work out which created a lot of time on the plane, in a seat, on the tarmac.
As I sat on the last plane of the day waiting for the issues to be resolved so that we could get in the air and head to Wichita I came to a realization. When we find things in life that we enjoy or appreciate we tend to want them to always be the same and we want our experience and feelings to be the same every time we do them. That is why I like to fly because the experience used to be the same most of the time, the feeling of going somewhere new and yet familiar creates a slight sense of adventure as the plane takes off and partially slips the surly bonds of Earth. (To steal a phrase from someone who actually did.) I find more and more in life that there are very few to zero of these things that are ever consistent in the way we experience them or how we feel while or after we do them.
There is one thing that I have found that never disappoints me when I do it. The experience may not always be the same but the feeling and gratification is always the same or even better. That activity is seeking after God. The writer of Lamentations says it well.
Lamentations 3:22-25
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning great is your faithfulness;
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
The Lord’s mercies are new every morning and his faithfulness is great, that should create a sense of excitement and anticipation as we seek Him. As we seek The Lord, His goodness will come through and create that sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that we desire. Our God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. I don't know why I tend to forget that the greatest rush and satisfaction I can get is from seeking My Lord and Savior. When I do, I am never disappointed.
Let me leave you with this:
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air… .
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high un-trespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. — John Gillespie Magee, Jr
I challenge you to take time and seek the Lord this week and see what true fulfillment and satisfaction are. Our God will never disappoint nor will he fail to surprise.
Reach out and slip the surly bonds of this world and touch the face of God.
Pastor Sean