Nancy Hughes: Heavenly radar

“If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” Psalm 139:8 (NIV)

Flying is not one of my favorite things. In fact, it’s probably the first item on my list of things I do NOT like – at all. It comes before spiders, snakes and tornadoes. I’m not afraid of flying. I just do not like it. Any part of it.

With that in mind, just imagine how I felt when a flight I was on from Washington DC to Kansas City was detoured to Chicago O’Hare International Airport because of a fierce storm. And further imagine how I felt as my flight was delayed – not once – but repeatedly for hours.

My heart was pounding about 200 beats per minute as I looked around me at what appeared to be a huge problem with no solution. I had no idea what to do! I was in a large city I had never been in before. And I was at an airport full of thousands of people who were trying to reschedule flights in order to get home like me, but unlike me, they all seemed to know exactly what they were doing. I did not.

As I stood in line after line, trying to get a new flight, a thought occurred to me: my husband had no idea that my flight was delayed or that I was in Chicago or that I would be hours late. He would be worried sick as he wondered where I was! I had no cell phone and no way to contact him.

Would you believe that my husband wasn’t worried at all? He wasn’t. When my plane finally landed at 2:00 a.m. Kansas City, he was waiting at my terminal, smiling at my look of surprise. “How did you know I would be coming on this flight?” I asked him. “I had no way to call you to let you know.”

“Easy,” he replied. “When I got to the airport and saw that your flight was delayed, I just asked the attendant at the ticket counter how I could find out what had happened. He showed me on his computer where you were, what flight you eventually got, and what seat you were assigned. He even showed me the radar during your whole flight. I wasn’t worried; I always knew exactly where you were.”

The calm found in Psalm 139:8 whispers to my heart every time I fly but it also shouts to my soul that, no matter where I am, I have the Lord with me. Never once in all of my life has God said “Whoa! Where did she go? I can’t find her.” But instead He has been at my side, guiding every decision I make, giving me strength and courage to keep going no matter what I am facing.

How about you? Have you ever wondered if you are lost in this crazy world to the point that God cannot find you or that He has more important things to do than whatever you are facing?

Let me reassure you that, no matter where you live or work or lay your head at night, He is there. The Lord is in the middle of your heartache over the loss of a loved one or your grief at a life-threatening disease. He can be found right beside you as you struggle with a situation at work or at home and yes, - even when we fly “up to the heavens.”

Father, thank you for never leaving me, no matter where I am or where I go. I praise you for always having your eye on my life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

* Has there ever been a time in your life when you felt like God did not know or care what you were going through?

* Why do you think you believed that idea?

Apply

* Journal all the physical and emotional places that you have been for one week.

*Beside each entry, write Scripture that reassures you that God is with you in each of those places. Praise Him for never leaving your side.

Power

* Psalm 139:8 (NIV) “If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

* Deuteronomy 4:39 (NIV) “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.”




* Isaiah 41:10 (NIV) “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”