Lesson 2

There is one God, I am not Him.

     Sounds kind of obvious, but think about it. How many times have we tried to control our situations by running around like chickens with our heads cut off, or even less productively...worrying? We pray for situations to change or better themselves, to work out in our favor and before we even give God a chance to move...we are up and trying to run the show ourselves. 

     Today's lesson: Patience: It's all in God's timing.

As I said yesterday, my wait at the airport was only supposed to be about 15 minutes with 90 minute flight to my connecting flight, then another hour flight to my destination. This is basically  how it went  in reality:

...waited 15 minutes til I boarded at 9:30am/sat on the plane for 10 min before being told to get off and that we would be delayed an hour due to inclement weather/reboarded around 10:45, sat 5 minutes and was told to get off due to technical difficulty/was called to reboard around noon but was told there was another weather delay for an hour/ a half hour or so later was told the flight was cancelled due to the weather again. At this point I wandered out to the cafeteria since I had been up since 5am and had not yet eaten...and began to reflect on why this was happening. Why does everything I go to do have to be such a headache? Why was I stuck sitting here having to sit  and watch other planes taking off and coming...going to and from where I was trying to get to?

     According to wikepedia, Patience:" is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity."

     There is a reason certain versions of the Bible use the term longsuffering. It is the 4th Fruit of the Spirit and I am wholly convinced that I have every fruit but this one,lol. It's really not funny, but it's true. What is funny though, is the fact that while everyone around me were driven to swearing fits of rage at the inconvenience of it all, I found myself being very chill. Yes, I know I should have been at my destination for at least 5 hours at the precise moment that I was finally boarding my first flight out...but it didn't matter. I loved kicking back in the airport waiting area and watching the planes come in and take off in the rain. There were so many people of all different sizes and colors and styles- yet they were all united by the common fact that they all had a place they needed to be and this was the way they were all traveling. 

     After I graduated I highschool, this was the way I wanted to live life for a year- traveling around my country,heck-maybe the world-living out of suitcases and hotels and airports. But I wasn't allowed to do that, so I always felt like I missed out on the adventure my life craved. Here, in this seemingly endless waiting game, God gave me a tiny taste of the thrills I had missed out on.One of the most awesome parts of this time, was the kid sitting next to me who had OneRepublic's Good Life blaring so loud through his earbuds I could hear it clear as day!

     In a sick way, I am so glad that my 9:30am flight became a 5:30pm flight. If it hadn't, who knows what kind of disaster could have happened due to the weather or a malfunction?And even though I had really wanted to see the world below during the day, and then looked forward to seeing a sunset from the sky, I got to see some of the most beautiful lights below and the moon and North star from above the clouds. And not that it was a HUGE deal, but after a nearly 2 hour flight squished up against a window with a complete stranger practically on top of me smelling heavily of cigarettes, my thrice rescheduled flight ended up seating me behind first class with incredible leg room and no one beside me!

     I know for a fact that God has been trying to teach me patience for about 8 years now. Sometimes I pass the test with flying colors( these are normally the times that I can recognize I'm being tested), but most times I fail miserably and don't see the test or the benefits that would have come from exercising patience until after the fact. But the way I see it, if He hasn't given up on me and for some reason believes that I will finally get this, then maybe I shouldn't give up on me either...because I've seen the beauty of the reward that comes with waiting on God, rather than rushing for me.