I always take the window seat when I fly, because I have an intense fear of heights (among other nonessential phobias). As a result of this fear I force myself to fly window so that I can see where I am. When the plane takes off and you feel the wheels touch off the ground there is this strong sense of limbo and insecurity that courses through my veins perhaps even a small dosage of adrenaline. However, it is not until the plane is in the air and it is about the time that you can turn your electronics back on for the wifi that you have to pay $4.99 for! This of course is ridiculous, but I digress. It is only then when I look out the window and all the world looks like little specks. Houses and fields and cars seem like sand resting on the shores of a vast and endless beach that I get an overwhelming sense that I could die. . . yes and this is why I always sit by the window. Without fail I always picture myself on flight 815 and the plane has broken in two and I am crash landing on an island with Psychos and time warps and stuff... I see myself and the plane plummeting to the earth, fast and heavy and I imagine my stomach pressing against my lungs with so much pressure likened to the feeling one gets when they ride the tower of doom at Six Flags. Morbid? Yeah it may be but that is what I think . . . every single time. Don't get me started on snow and highways because I am definitely not thinking of hot chocolate and a warm fire place when I think of winter. Jus' sayin.
Anyway, as i watch the tiny sand specks from the sky I realize that I have flown a plane a lot and not once did I die. In fact the statistical likelihood is very low. I remind myself of these two factors and I cannot say that I feel instant peace about the apprehension I feel at being so high from touchable ground but I do feel a sense that I have done this before and Lord willing I will touch ground once again. This calm that comes over is kind of like the feeling an individual gets when they think of a promise, but not just any promise but the Lord's promises. I have two promises that I would like to present.
1. Promises of His Word
2. Personal promises that He has made with you
Personally I now enjoy watching the earth from the sky. There is something so humbling watching little cars in the distance drive so slowly. Millions of cars driving simultaneously and all of a sudden your perspective changes. You start seeing everything all at once. Nothing was as captivating as the last time I flew which was about three weeks ago. It was a late flight and as usual you couldn't really see anything out the window unless you passed a city. but once the plane turned, a huge and gorgeous round moon planted itself in plain view of my window and its light illuminated the sky and even the rivers beneath glistened and seemed to move as the light from the moon moved across the water. It truly was captivating. However, the moment that simply took my breath away was an hour of watching multiple lightning storms from above the clouds.
When you are home and firmly planted in your bed for the night and a lightning storms hits and thunder booms the earth. You slowly begin to count the seconds in between to see how many miles away it is, the storm seems overwhelming and right on top of you no matter how many miles away it is. In that moment the storm is all you see. You can't sleep because of the light and the noise and all peace is blocked out by all the commotion. The storm is all you see.
But in the sky as I flew above the clouds I saw many storms. I saw a mighty powerful one to the left and I saw a smaller one to the right and a third right in the center of my window and all three though they were happening at the same time where in completely different places and the lightning would light up different parts of the sky at different times. the lightning was not in tune. As I watched these storms I thought of God and how big He is, and then I thought of me and how small I am. I am just another speck on the beaches of life, and as I watched I heard God speak into my heart, "I see all things all at once." The reality is that I am the small speck that feels so overwhelmed and scared from the storm that is raging in my life but I have to remember that God is flying in the sky and He sees all things all at once!
Now this brings me back to God's promises. Whether you read God's word and see His promises or you have a personal promise He has given you, I want to encourage you today to remember that no matter what storm may be raging in your life. No matter how many nights you have laid awake because the thunder would not let your mind rest that God is in the sky and He sees all things at once. He has not forgotten you and He definitely has not forgotten His promises. When He says trust me and hold on then no matter how long it takes you hold on! Many times holding onto a promise is not and cannot be about how you feel. It has to be about what you know to be true and a faith that even though you cannot see that promise bear fruit yet, there is a belief that it i will. Trusting God is one of the most challenging things in life. It is easy to trust God when everything is going right but it is when you have hit rock bottom and all you love and hold dear seems lost. Your heart is bruised and your stamina is weakened. You wonder if you should even take another step or retreat and go back to a place of safety and comfort that a promise (especially a promise given by God) is far more valuable that the weight of gold. it is in those moments when all seems lost that the hope of a promise given is what gives you the strength to persevere and hold on. So please I encourage whoever is reading my "blahness" to just keep holding on! You will make it! Because from where I was sitting while watching the storms i knew everything was going to be okay, just as God has promised you the same.
