They say you can pick your friends but not your family. That may be true, but when you fly you can’t even pick friends. They are chosen for you. You are thrown together with total strangers. You have no say about who is on the plane with you, or even who sits beside you. I’ve sat beside a well-known pro football player, a crying mother, medical researchers, very talkative people and those who wouldn’t say hello. Ages vary from very young to very old, and I have no idea how many different nationalities have been represented. Still,for the duration of the flight we share the same space and breathe the same air.
We experience the same events. We stand, sit and walk within inches of one another. There are unwritten rules of courtesy and cooperation that have to be followed to make such an experience bearable. After all, you all share a common goal and desire – to arrive at the same destination as quickly and safely as possible.
To me, this seems to be a microcosm of life. We are thrown together with those we didn’t choose but with whom we must work and depend on, to reach our goals in life. We are all passengers – and God is the pilot directing the plane, or our lives, in a way we couldn’t begin to understand or duplicate. We must trust His skill to get us safely to our objective. Often there’s not much that can be done to make the trip better. There’s a lot that can be done to make it worse, however. Avoiding that becomes a key goal.
So find your place, fasten your seat belt, and get ready for takeoff. Make friends with your fellow travelers. Trust your pilot; he’s got your future in His hands! (January 10, 2017 Doylestown, PA)
Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Is there someone you are having trouble getting along with? That can happen, and sometimes there is nothing we can do to improve things. But is there anything at all you can possibly do to help improve the relationship? You don’t have to be best friends, just cease the hostilities. Keep the door open in case they want to move through it. Pray for that person now.
INDIA UPDATE & PRAYER REQUEST: Today we start our travels to India. It’ll be about 50 hours from when we got up until we get to bed in India. Pray for a restful, relaxing trip and some good sleep on the plane. It’s amazing how tiring traveling is, despite sitting and doing nothing all day!
Pray for Pastor Moses and helpers in India as they make last minute preparations for our visit and conferences. Pray for those who will be coming to the conferences as well.
Jerry Schmoyer
Christian Training Organization
india.christiantrainingonline.org/