When we are living through difficult circumstances, it is difficult to focus on hope rather than the problem. And who is that “hope”? Jesus is our only hope. I travel often for work and when I travel alone things tend to not go well for me. I can share countless examples of why my flights are often (very often) delayed or even cancelled. That of course triggers stress which begins with the inconvenience of just having to wait when I’m tired.
On my last trip to Indiana to facilitate a forum, I was just about to board when all the passengers who had already boarded came back out to the gate. I then heard the message, “We apologize but the plane needs a tire changed. And there are no tires in this airport. We will need to have it flown from Ohio and it will take about four hours.” I called my husband and told him about a new reason for delayed flights to add to my collection of experiences. About half hour later, they announced, “We have good news, we found a tire! It will only take about 1 hour to change it.”
All the while, all of us passengers were looking down at our plane that was at the gate. They needed to change one of the front tires. The mechanic shows up with the tire and starts using the jack to lift the plane. I started noticing that the tires were not being lifted. I mentioned to someone, “I don’t think the jack is working. The tires should be up in the air by now…” And so I was right. Another message, “We apologize but the jack is broken. The mechanic must go back to the garage and get a new one.” Half hour goes by and he returns now with another mechanic and a bigger jack… which was too big. After maneuvering it, they got it to work and the tire was off. Now there were three mechanics trying to change the tires. They finally got done and we heard another message. “Good news, as you can see, they got the tires changed and we are boarding again soon.”
We were finally on the plane and we waited another twenty minutes without moving. I guess they have to rewrite the “manifesto” with the passengers who decided to stay on this flight. Many had to stay overnight in Indiana because this was the last flight out to Minneapolis. I had no choice but to wait. In the end, we were delayed 2 hours and I got home safely, just exhausted.
I texted my daughter while this was going on and sent her pictures and videos of the tire changing attempts. She replied, “You know, maybe it’s just that God stops the plane to fix it for you to protect you in the sky each time.” And she’s right. As I started thanking God for fixing the plane because the alternative to waiting is much more catastrophic if the plane is not fixed. Then I looked up and you could see the mechanics fixing the tires below and the amazing sunset right above.
God reminded me of the hope of glory when we look up to Him. It’s much easier to look down at the circumstances and get discouraged. We can get stuck only looking down and not make the effort to look up to God. I immediately got inspired to share this story with you to simply encourage you to focus on hope rather than the problem. Jesus is our only hope. I will leave you with these encouraging scriptures to lift your spirit:
Matthew 6:33 (NLT) Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Psalm 39:7 (NLT) And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.