The trip had been
planned for nearly a year and booked with several different airline companies,
spanning a little over 25,000 air miles in total. I was pretty proud about planning the trip,
with just the right routes and layovers in between flights. And I was pumped when on Friday, February 28th
I arrived at the Grand Rapids airport to begin my journey to Asia.
As I waited to board
my flight I thanked the Lord that I was getting out of “Dodge” just before the
impending snow storm and glad that I would be somewhere, anywhere without snow
and cold. I began packing up my computer
and wrapping up my cord so I could begin the boarding process at the gate no
more than 10 feet away.
It was then the
person at the counter said, “Ladies and gentleman, your flight to Detroit is
cancelled due to a mechanical problem.” I was stunned! How could a trip that had been so well
crafted, so thought through, so prayed about, so anticipated … be cancelled? And by what?
A problem that could have been caught – should have been caught - the
night before or hours before and then fixed?
My mind exploded with negative thoughts and my heart sunk with
disappointment. The entire trip was in danger
of being messed up or even scrapped because of something out of my control.
It was at that moment that I got a crash
course in the meaning of the English idiom “to go south.” It has a distinct meaning related to
something going wrong, even worsening as time progresses. In the business world, it often means profits
are souring or even decreasing. In
personal health it is like a domino effect in our physical, mental, and emotional
wellbeing where one condition leads to another – each worse than the one
before. In the world of travel … it
means your carefully laid plans have fallen apart and are escalating into
problems that we never anticipated.
Isn’t that just like
life in general? When we think that we
are in control, when we are confident in our abilities and plans, when we feel
that we know the solutions, answers, and have counted out the right steps to
take … something silly like a broken wire, an unexpected act of God like a snow
fall, an unwanted virus, a person with a different viewpoint, a slip or slide
on an icy patch, or any number of other random events … cause our worlds to “go
south.”
And at that moment I
had a choice to make. I could either
emotionally ride the train of despondency “going south” or I could lift my
head, voice, and heart in the opposite direction. Toward the One who is “always north,” always
in control of every given situation, who in His wisdom is well aware of every circumstance
I am currently facing and will face, who has my best interests at heart, and
will craft every problem into His wonderful plan for my life.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I
know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and
not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
So I prayed and
listened to His voice as He comforted, strengthened, and guided me through the
murky light that seemingly encased my world.
And He led me each step of the way THROUGH the problems that loomed in
my path.
What direction is
life taking you today?
The moment when you have to let go and let God. Always a challenge for me!
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