Diverted

“All things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

I was diverted over the weekend.

So today, we are going to divert temporarily from our journey through the Bible.

My husband’s been doing consulting work with a Toronto-based company, so he and I were scheduled to travel to Toronto on Friday to get in place for an employee picnic, which included family members. We thought it would be fun to go up a day early to do some sightseeing, since I’d never spent time in Toronto.

It was a perfect plan.

But then the plane was delayed because the inbound flight had not arrived on time.

A couple hours later, we finally boarded, but then sat for a while at the gate. As it turned out, our designated captain fell ill, and had to be replaced.

About an hour later, the new Captain was on board, but bad weather moved in, and we were delayed even more, so much so that the crew timed out, and the plane could not leave.

The flight was cancelled.

Afterward we spent three hours in line, trying to get rebooked for the next day. We were put on a  morning flight connecting in Nashville. When we arrived at the airport the next day, that flight was delayed, so there was no way we would make our connection. The patient gate attendant placed us on the exact same flight we had been on the day before, (which was full when we tried to rebook the day before) and miraculously, that flight took off, and we made it to Toronto a day late.

Why do I share all this with you?

Because life does not always go as scripted.

You either trust there’s a reason for it, or you get angry.

You can pray to make a difference in the chaos, or you can  sulk and complain to those around you.

Here’s the story behind the story.

There was a man in his early thirties, sitting next to me on the plane that never departed. I prayed that if God wanted me to share my faith with him, he would open a door. Please understand I am terrified of one-on-one evangelism. I can share Jesus with a small group, or a crowd of a thousand, but something about that kind of intimacy makes me nervous.

So I waited to see what would happen.

I went about some work, editing people’s testimonies for a book, when he asked what I was working on. Here we go! I began to explain about testimonies, then began to share mine with him. He was “spiritual” but not a believer, so I encouraged him to seek Jesus, even though he did not believe. I gave him my card, suggesting he look at my written testimony on my website, which included a prayer to become a Christian. He seemed open, but not ready, so I’ve been praying for him ever since.

After we boarded our plane Saturday, there was a little girl a couple rows back, who loudly proclaimed she was bored with the book she had to read. I happened to have a copy of my children’s book, The Most Powerful P, in my carry on. I asked her if she‘d like to read my book. At first she said “no,” but with a little coaxing from her dad, she agreed. There were tears in my eyes as I listened to her reading about the power of prayer aloud to her dad, and anyone seated near her!

As I look back on these two situations, I realized they probably would not have happened if we weren’t delayed.

I would have never met the little girl because she was on a different flight, and the guy next to me might not have been starved for conversation after a long delay.

God worked all things together for good. He worked in the middle of the disruption, and pursued two unrelated people. But he needed someone who was willing to be his representative.

What do you do when plans change?

Do you ask God to use you in the diversion?

Do you trust there’s a supernatural reason behind whatever’s going on?

It’s taken me a long time to relax in upheaval. I still struggle with it at times. But what I find is that is where God does his best work, whether it’s in us, or in someone else.

Funny, we experienced another diversion once we arrived in Toronto. The picnic we were going up for, was canceled. But God knew my heart.

I desired to see Toronto, and because of our day delay, would not have been able to. So when the employee event was called off, we were able to spend time in that beautiful city, playing tourist.

So the lesson in this tale is to trust God when the plans change. The next time you’re diverted, know there’s a good reason for it, and keep your eyes and ears open, because it creates a perfect setting for the Lord to touch a life. (LBW)