Flight 53787 Now Boarding

Sitting in this airport, I can’t wait to see my family. Their absence (or mine) brings back a painful memory of a time eight to ten years ago. We are a tight knit family. Therefore, the constant separation with camps, conferences, and training was taking its toll on all of us, especially our kids.

For the longest time, I was so bitter that they didn’t do a better job of taking care of me and my family. That wasn’t their job. It was mine. I was the one to blame for not setting proper boundaries between my family and the organization.

I learned so much during those two years of ministry. The most significant thing I learned was how to set sane boundaries amid a busy life. Unfortunately, this was learned as a result of painful failure.

Pain. Nothing catapults us into the realm of deep meaningful personal growth like pain. I wish an ice cream cone or three sticks of bacon would help us deal with our problems and bring about meaningful changes that result in a new and better life. I wish there was an “app for that.” If there were, we could go to the app store and download it effortlessly. Install it there among all the other problem solver apps that help us manage our lives.

Something has happened to us in our society. Something has gone way wrong. We have been programmed to consume, consume, consume, consume. Shopping has become a hobby and for some a contact sport.  No, I think it’s worse than that. It is a cancer that is going to kill us from within. How can our landfills even keep up?

There are three gates where I am in this huge airport and while I’m really not hungry. I better go ahead and get a bite to eat. Of course there are plenty of choices: Burger King, Pizza Hut, Starbucks (they had sandwiches), and two fancy sit down restaurants. Did you get that. For three gates, there was all that and I didn’t count all the stuff I passed along the way since the curb. I grabbed a sandwich and a coffee because the turkey club had bacon…yes!

By the time I pay and grab my coffee It’s time to board the plane. Everyone is standing there with bags of goodies and the lady behind me is on her phone talking really loud. It was one of those awkward moments at first. She was wearing a bluetooth ear piece that I couldn’t see due to her hair. We walked up to the line at the same time and just as we got to the line she seemed to yell, “HELLO!” It was one of those great moments in your life when you really wished you were prepared to say something really clever. I just looked at her and she just smiled and pulled her hair back so I could see her ear and I laughed and showed her my boarding number (Southwest Airlines rocks). I wonder if there is an app for that?

I know there is an app for all the problems in our life. His name is Jesus Christ. When we experience pain we should see it as Jesus ringing the doorbell of our heart. He would love to come in and do a work.

Instead we see it as something he created that’s evil instead of good and sometimes even curse him for it. Pain is something God put in us to help us realize we need him. The Bible teaches that God is jealous and this is why. It isn’t that he needs us. It is because we need him. There isn’t an app that can fill that need. We try to buy things to fill those needs and to cure or fix that pain. They only lead to greater emptiness and more pain. It is a terribly cycle to be on. However, look around you. Everyone is doing it. You’re on it. I’m on it. It’s the American way. It isn’t the Christian way. At least it isn’t supposed to be. Unfortunately, the Church is falling for it.

If we would only allow Jesus an entry when the pain goes off. He was the one that rang the bell. He will wait outside like a gentlemen until you let him in. If you decide to let him in, things get pretty painful at first. You have to go digging pretty deep to work things up, the darkness has to be exposed to light, the cancer has to be removed…pick your own analogy. Sometimes that may need professional help. The bottom line is things usually don’t get better right away, they get harder…they get more painful. It’s part of the process.

Many have figured out that if you stay with the process and let Jesus do his work; there is something wonderful waiting for you just the other side of pain: joy.

I have come through my valley and I am crawling out now. I’m not looking for a mountain top to ascend either! I just want to find some level ground out of this nasty pit I’ve lived in for so long regarding my horrible eating habits. I am already experiencing a measure of Joy.

It is like going back to something that is normal, sane, healthy, and all together wonderful. It is just like going home. In my eating I have never been here before. Why does it feel like home? Jesus has been waiting here for me all along…the table was set: this time no bacon, just HIM…it was all I needed.

The only thing to do now, is to not get off this plane before it lands. I know I have gone through the hard stuff. The question is will I try and jump ship and look for an app? God forbid! The joy of this journey thus far has been so great. To exit this ride early would be disastrous. Besides, I can’t wait to get home!

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