Delay

I’m sorry for the “delay” in todays post but it seems “delay” has been the word of the week.  As I type, I’m sitting in an airport waiting again.  I’ve logged 20 hours of airport waiting since Monday afternoon and it’s been full of lessons.  I’ve been booked, re-booked, stand by assigned and bumped off a plane because the storm we were heading into required two passengers had to leave the flight and I was picked.  It’s been such a strange trip and my quick “there and back the next day” to Knoxville has taken on a design of its own.
 
I went to Knoxville to present a retreat on the theme of “Being Formed by the Father” which focused on the scripture image of the potter and his clay.  One entire section of the retreat focused on being patient while the Lord was molding, shaping, and then re-forming us.  It is a process that constantly allows us to be made into the person we were created to be.  This waiting is part of the process that the Father uses to mold and change us so we can become more focused on Him and less focused on the world. Sometimes it’s as if the potters wheel stops spinning and we need to be still where we are and soak in the struggles, blessings and the lessons.  It might be easy to look at these seasons of waiting on the Lord as a delay and we might be tempted to think the Lord needs to hurry up and change things, but we have to remind ourselves that the clay never leaves the potters hands and the Lord is truly doing something during the “delay”.  God is so fancy because this whole trip has been a giant lesson in “practice what you teach”!
 
I’ve had plenty of opportunities to live out this thought in the last few days. My prayer has been to use the unexpected delays and changes to practice peace, joy and trust. Honestly, it’s been a grace-filled time. I’ve realized a few things; all things work for good but they don’t always work for our convenience.  If we ask for patience and peace, He will most assuredly give us opportunities to practice them.  When we expect the potter to mold us into His design instead of our preference, He will and He does it in some very fancy ways.  As I stood in the re-book line late last night after being removed from the flight, I took a minute and offered my three big hiccups (one being where will I sleep) in prayer and one by one each was resolved.  I trusted Him to put all things in order and He did.  The surprise at the end of a long wait was a customer service agent who handed me a Starbucks gift card and a travel voucher with a thank you for not yelling at her. She looked like it had been a very long day with lots of yelling.  There were so many people to pray for who were put in difficult situations by the delays and many times I heard peoples story and I silently prayed that the Lord would intervene with His peace and more than once I heard a ticket agent say with great surprise in their voice, “Wait, something just opened up on that flight, I can get you there.” The delays gave me so many chances to see Him working.
I’m hoping to be home by the end of this day but if I’m not, I’ll remind myself that I can offer the trials and delays for the good of someone else because a delay gives us an opportunity to think about Him and what He might be inviting us to see, do, hear or learn.  I’m currently watching a mama teach her toddler how to sing the ABC song and it’s cracking me up, I’m pretty sure that little guy is gearing up to give a concert at gate G13 and I’m glad I have a good seat!  And on a really happy note, I’ve got a Starbucks gift card to use.
 
A Seed To Plant:  What seems to be on “delay” in your life right now and how can you invite the Father into the wait or the re-route?
 
Blessings on your day!