The Pilot

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him… Psalm 37:7

My husband and I spent the day chasing delayed flights on our way to Idaho for a family reunion, then on to Oregon to see our children and dear friends. Like everyone else on that plane, we simply wanted to get where our hearts already were.

Instead, we sat through lightning, waited on the tarmac for fuel, paused for a medical emergency (Lord, please be with that passenger. Amen), and finally pushed back from the gate—only to stop again when another passenger threatened to open an emergency exit if the plane took off.

Police were called.

By then, I was almost curious what could possibly happen next...right after I finished mentally volunteering to get out and push the airplane myself.

That's when a senior pilot boarded our flight. He had finished his shift and was simply catching a ride home—in a middle seat near the back of the plane.

And he was smiling.

Who smiles about a middle seat in the back of the plane?

Someone who knows something the rest of us don't.

He understood there were reasons behind every delay, even if the passengers couldn't see them. Experience had taught him that frustration doesn't clear storms or make fuel trucks arrive faster.

His perspective gave him peace.

Mine required breathing exercises.

I had convinced myself that missing our connection would be a disaster, as though my husband and I were the only people on the plane trying to reach people we loved.

Isn't that what we do with God? We stare out the window of our circumstances wondering why nothing is moving. "Lord, how much longer?" As if the God who created time might occasionally lose track of it.

But Scripture doesn't say, you must understand everything. It says to be still.

Before our first flight had even departed, we learned our connecting flight had also been delayed. The very delay I feared became the reason we made our flight—with enough time to grab lunch.

God already knew.

I spent the afternoon trying to calm my anxious heart. The senior pilot reminded me, without saying a word, what trust looks like.

Sometimes the strongest testimony isn't spoken. It's the quiet peace of someone who trusts what they cannot see.

One day we'll all reach our final destination.

Until then, let's trust the One who has never lost sight of ours.

You are loved!