Last Friday, I prepared to fly to Houston. I rushed to the airport, went through TSA, jogged to my gate, boarded the plane, found my seat...feeling relieved because I barely made it and anxious to see who would sit next to me. Let’s just say, I’ve had some strange “plane mates”in the past. Finally, an older Caucasian gentleman sat next to me. He spoke and did not wait to introduce himself and dive into a conversation. We conversed about everything- love, finances, career, God, etc. After the pilot and flight attendants finished the preliminaries, we left the gate and prepared to take off. As we talked, I noticed we were on the ground for a while but that was not anything to be concerned about. I thought maybe several planes were taking off at the same time and we had to wait our turn. The conversation between my plane mate and I continued until we were interrupted by an announcement- “We should be off the ground in a minute. We are having trouble with the valve that supports the starter. We are going to try something else. This is not a mechanical issue, so no worries.”
As soon as the announcement ended, my plane mate started right where he left off. The worry must was showing on my face. He stopped and said, “No need to be worried, this...” Another announcement interrupted him. “Well that did not work. We are headed back to the gate. The mechanic is going to try to replace the valve.”
Deep sighs, Ughs, and frustrations could be heard all over the plane.
We were informed we had arrived back at the gate and to sit patiently as the mechanic fixes the issue and we’ll be off to Houston in no time. “ By this time, it was already 50 minutes past the take off time.
I think my plane mate had become worried because he stopped talking Lol. As I sat there taking advantage of the quietness (lol), I was reminded of a conversation I had with my friend earlier that morning. I told her how my spirit was unsettled about the trip to Houston. She asked why but I did not have an answer. I dismissed it and blamed it on me being tired.
Shortly, my thoughts where interrupted by another announcement- “Unfortunately, we are unable to resolve the issue. We are going to have to ask you to gather your things and return to the gate. The receptionists there will provide more info.
Stay with me...I’m going somewhere with this...
As we returned, we were told to get in a line to be booked for another flight. As I stood in line, my spirit felt even more unsettled than it did that morning. When it was my turn to talk to the receptionist, he gave me the list of available flights that were leaving in the next hours. When I opened my mouth to speak to choose a time, I stuttered and before I knew it, I said, “That’s okay. I’ll take a refund.” I made my way to baggage claim to get my bags and to my car. I sat in the parking garage for a while soaking up the unexplainable peace that had come over me.Whatever God was protecting me from in Houston, He succeeded.
We have to learn to trust that unsettling feeling in our spirits. And check this- had I trusted that feeling when it first came upon me, the others on the flight probably could’ve gotten to their destination at the scheduled time. OUR DISOBEDIENCE NOT ONLY HURT AND DELAY US, IT NEGATIVELY AFFECTS OTHERS TOO. Will we always know “the why” behind it or what we are being protected from up ahead? Nope...but if we learn to trust it, we’d save ourselves from a lot of disappointments, pain, tears, heartbreaks, learning lessons the hard way, etc. I cannot tell you how many times I still pursued situations that I knew I were not supposed to and the pain that I had to endure as a result of my disobedience. I think somewhere in our minds when we want something that God doesn’t necessarily want for us, we think God is trying to keep us from living our best life, when in reality, He is trying to keep us on the path of living a blessed life.
Trust Him...it’s for y(our) protection! 📷️