Airplanes

It's not unusual for this thought to go through my mind when I get settled into my seat on the airplane, "What should I start with... my book? thank you notes? some music? Should I introduce myself to the person next to me? try to share the Gospel?" I've met some pretty neat people on airplane rides... but I've also begun conversations that went on and on and on... and on, and all I really wanted to do was take a little nap. This weekend I faced these questions, but I decided to sit down, listen to some music and read my books. I had noticed that the man across the aisle had his Bible to read, I thought my reading material (the same book) might begin a conversation with him. Instead, as I read with the music in my ears drowning out all other unwanted noises, out of the corner of my eye I caught the words 2 Corinthians in the book my seat mate was reading. I felt a prompting to just ask her what she was reading, so I stopped my music and inquired.

We ended up having a great conversation--talking nearly for the entire ride. She shared with me from her life, I shared deeply about what I was experiencing as I embark on this journey to Kenya. The woman was a huge encouragement. She showed me what God had been teaching her through Psalm 91. It says: 

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

They say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you say, "The LORD is my refuge," and you make the Most High your dwelling, 

no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

"Because they love me," says the LORD, "I will rescue them; I will protect them, for they acknowledge my name.

They will call on me, and I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will deliver them and honor them.

With long life I will satisfy them and show them my salvation."

How perfectly this applies to me right now! On some level I am fearful of the violence, the lion, the cobra, but the Lord promises that He will be near. The Lord is my refuge. He will rescue. He will protect. He will deliver. I will call on His Name.