Pushed into Blessing… Part II

Continued from previous blog…

By now, my travel schedule was in tatters. I would not able to reach the international airport in time, the next morning. The next available flight would leave on Friday, by which time my meeting in Los Angeles would be over. This meant that there was no point in continuing my journey, as all hope of reaching the airport in time, was gone.

During our conversation at the dinner table, the chief manager remarked on his need to reach the international airport by early next morning. I told him I had the same requirement, and that I would to go back home if I could not make my connection.

The junior manager immediately offered his car, filled with gas, and a driver to drive all night. After dinner we all got into the car and drove through the night. In the morning, when we arrived at the airport, they dropped me off right on time at the departure area!

Why did I say “Praise the Lord” when the stout man pushed me out of line and denied me my rights? I knew God was in charge, and that we must praise God at all times, for all things. As it turned out, God used this man and his ‘offense’ to work things out for me, to ensure that I would not miss the best. If I had gone in the taxi, I would have slept in the hotel and returned home the next day.

God wanted me to attend the meetings, and He knew I was standing in the wrong part of the line. God wanted to move me. I would not have moved on my own, since it was natural and logical to stay where I did. God knew this, and so He allowed someone to ‘wrong’ me that I might be blessed with His abundance and supply.

When we praise God during frustrating or difficult times, we are actually thanking and praising God for taking care of us and doing the best for us. In so doing, we can defeat our depressions and disappointments, and be set free from bitterness. Enjoying peace in such situations is advantageous to our physical as well as mental health. God does step in to help us. We can trust Him. We do not need to worry, even if all our plans are upset through unforeseen events. God is in control.

Of course, saying “Praise God” is not a magic formula. We may encounter difficulties that will not work out to our benefit. But even when our difficulties amount to suffering and inconvenience, we can be assured that God will be with us as we go through them. God has promised us His presence at all times. “I am holding you by your right hand—I, the Lord your God—and I say to you, Don’t be afraid; I am here to help you” (Isaiah 41:13). God has promised us His abiding presence, “that I am with you always, even to the end of the world” (Mathew 28:20). Why should we get upset when God  is close beside us? “Even when walking through the dark valley of death I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me, guarding, guiding all the way” (Psalm 23:4).

We are not suppressing our anger and resentment by praising God. We do not have to deny that we are hurt or upset. The more we pretend on the outside, the more harm it does within us. The anger will build, and we may end up taking our feelings out on people who aren’t even involved—our family or employees. We must not deny or suppress our frustrations, rather acknowledge it to our loving Father, and let it go, and simply begin to look at events and people with a different attitude, “I don’t like what has happened, but I know Who is in control. And I trust Him to work His will in this situation”.

Dear friends, be assured, God can turn even the worst into the best. “And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans” (Romans 8:28). Our trust in Him will not be in vain. He will be there for us.

Pushed into Blessing!

When I travel, I normally look for the least expensive tourist ticket, thereby exercising better stewardship of money. Often such tourist tickets oblige you to take a single airline on all legs of the journey. If you miss a particular flight on that airline, you have to wait till the next available flight on that carrier.

For one particular trip, I was to depart on a Tuesday morning from the international airport and continue with connections all the way to Los Angeles, where I was to attend meetings Wednesday through Friday. I would have to leave soon after the meetings on Friday night to get back home for some other programs. The entire trip would be canceled if I was unable to make it to the international airport on time that Tuesday morning.

To ensure I arrived on time, I reserved a seat well in advance on a domestic flight that would get me to where I needed to be on the night before departure. The domestic flight took off, on time on Monday evening. But then, trouble started. For some reason the flight landed in another airport. An announcement told us, we would not get to the international airport until the following day, meaning I would almost certainly miss my connections.

As usual, the ground staff distributed complimentary hotel vouchers for the night stay. But there was no ground transportation available. We were advised to take taxis in groups, according to the hotels assigned to us. Because of the sudden demand and the lack of late-night taxicabs, my group had to wait for a long time before a taxi was available.

Finally, my turn came—or so I thought. I had two pieces of luggage, while others in our group only had hand-carried bags. As I was about to load my suitcase, a stout man in the group pushed me out and allowed his friend, who was not in line, to get in. The taxi left without me.

As we were all strangers to one another, and everyone wanted to get some sleep in the hotel, no one bothered to interfere when my right to board the taxi was violated. I didn’t make any noise about it either. I quietly carried my luggage back to the very end of the taxi line, saying “Praise the Lord” in my heart as I was walking back.

“Praise the Lord”, I said again, a little more loudly this time, since we are asked to thank and praise the Lord for all things at all times (see Colossians 1:12; Ephesians 5:20). So there we stood, waiting for the taxis that occasionally showed up. By now it was getting very late at night. Suddenly I noticed a private car stopping near the line. A man got out to search for someone, and soon came to the end of the line and started talking to the two passengers behind me. Earlier, when I realized that they two had been given vouchers to stay in the same hotel as I was, I had asked them to join me for the taxi ride, since the taxi could seat four people.

As I listened to the conversation, I realized that one of them was the chief manager of a firm and that the man in the car was his junior manager in that city. During a telephone conversation, the junior manager had come to know that his boss was stranded at the airport. I saw the two passengers getting ready to go with him. I wished I could go too, since they were heading to my hotel. At that time of the night it would be much safer to ride in a private car than in a taxi.

Just when I had resigned myself to continuing my wait, the men looked at me and invited me to join them. I continued praising the Lord in my heart while I loaded my suitcase in the trunk. We all got seated comfortably, and proceed to the hotel. I thanked the Lord for the man who had crowded into the line a few minutes earlier. I thanked and praised the Lord for the ride and the company of those men.

To be continued…