October 17—A Pearl for Today
“Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7).
MEETING THE LORD IN THE AIR
I used to enjoy teasing friends and family as they waited to board an aircraft for a trip. I have been known to make such comments as “It looks like one of the engines is about to fall off the plane,” or “Your Captain’s name is Kangaroo; hope your flight is not too bouncy.” And then there was my favorite, evoking scripture, “The Bible says, ‘The Lord will meet us in the air’; I hope that doesn’t mean while you are in the air!” You know … innocent fun!
I no longer do this! One day, Don and I were on a flight that had been in the air about 20 minutes, when I noticed the flight attendant talking quietly to each passenger. When it was our turn, she calmly stated, “We are experiencing a slight problem and will have to return to Chicago.” Don just smiled, shrugged, and continued to read his book. The engine on our side of the plane was not on fire, and I could not smell smoke. I looked around to see how other people were handling the emergency. The couple in front of us was obviously on their honeymoon. Had they fallen out of the plane, they would not have noticed until they were halfway down.
I tried to get Don involved by telling him someone probably forgot to fill the plane with fuel in Chicago. “No, a trouble light must have come on and they are going back to get it checked,” he nonchalantly replied. Don’t you just want to shake someone when he acts like that?!
I worried and white-knuckled that plane all the way back to Chicago. Some people just don’t know how to react to an emergency. We found out later that mechanics had de-iced the engines before leaving Chicago, but one engine was icing up. Hence, we needed to return.
You might have heard the joke about the grandfather who was afraid to fly. After much coaxing, his grandkids talked him into coming for a visit. When he got off the plane they commented, “See Grandpa, everything was just fine.” To this, Grandpa replied, “I know, I didn’t put my entire weight down while we were in the air.”
We sometimes have a tendency to treat the Lord this way. We do not cast all our cares on Him. Instead, white-knuckled, we fret and stew about them. The Lord can handle the full weight of our fears or cares. Cast them on Him!
He who remains calm in confusion knows the One who brings calm in the midst of confusion.
