Stuck....

I am not a frequent flier, but I have flown enough to consider myself a competent traveler. Until last week, I had only one truly bad airplane memory. That memory goes back 15 years when I was pregnant with my first child. At the time, I traveled for my job. About midway through a flight to Colorado, I distinctly remember that the man sitting next to me would not stop talking. The pregnancy combined with the altitude (and the general "ick" feeling I get whenever I fly) was taking a normal flight to a bad place.I kept waiting for the man to stop talking so I could close my eyes and regain my composure. Before he would take a breath, I remember an unavoidable wave of nausea coming over me as I discretely grabbed the barf bag, turned my head towards the window, used the bag for said purpose, and turned back around to mutter another "uh huh." If I must say, my aim was impressive. All things considered, it turned out better than I had imagined.Last week, that same feeling came back over me as I was on an airplane. This time I could not blame it on altitude or pregnancy. As my flight to Charlotte landed, we learned that the concourse our flight was headed toward had just had a small fire. Fortunately, all was under control and no one was hurt. This meant that we would be asked to taxi for an extended period of time as they finished clearing out the smoke in the concourse. This was understandable, but there was a minor problem: the plane's air-conditioning had not been working the entire flight.With the summer heat and humidity in full force, the plane quickly became quite toasty. To make matters worse, most everyone had already stood to gather bags when news of the delay came across the intercom. Suddenly, a wave of nausea came over me. I flashed back 15 years and wondered if I would repeat the same story.I was stuck. We were stuck. As the delay to deplane continued, the mood in the plane started to shift. What was curious was how widely the reactions of the passengers varied. Most everyone had a connecting flight that they were in jeopardy of missing. Some quickly got on their phones and started rebooking their flights. Others muttered to one another. I could overhear another man joke about his traveling fiascos. A few started to get angry. One guy yelled out, “I bet if I lit a cigarette they would give me an escort off this plane.”All of us are going to get stuck, maybe not on an airplane, but definitely in real life. The question is not IF, but HOW. How will we respond when everything starts crowding in and things are not going as we had planned? Do we laugh? Do we pull other people down in our negative spiral of thinking? Or do we know that our Lord’s has not left us alone in this world? In the midst of trials, we must remember that our Lord left the Holy Spirit here with us to guide us and comfort us,

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:7)

In what circumstance do you need to remember that you are not alone and you do not need to be afraid?