I’ve done quite a bit of traveling once more – this time from Ivory Coast back to the States, and from the East coast to Colorado, where my home church is located. As I was flying, I found myself nervous about a short connection time and bad weather that was predicted in Colorado Springs. I recognized that I was worrying – dwelling on something over which I had no control – and I decided to ‘cast down these imaginations’ (my fears that I would get stuck in Chicago airport overnight) and to ‘bring into captivity’ these thoughts. I remembered reading in Deuteronomy 14 the instructions the Lord gave to the children of Israel before they entered Canaan – that there would be areas designated by the Lord for bringing sacrifices and offerings. However, the Lord said that if the place was too far away from where a person lived, they could sell their sacrifice and bring the money instead. It stood out to me that the Lord understood the difficulties that can arise when we travel, and He made allowances for it. So, that got me to thinking about all the times in the Bible where the Lord mentioned travel.
I thought about the children of Israel traveling by foot. But when the Egyptians came after them with horse drawn chariots, the Lord made the wheels to fall off the chariots, causing the horses to slow down and keeping them from catching up to the Israelites.
I thought about Balaam’s donkey, who, when she saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, she diverted herself and her master three times in order to spare his life.
I thought about Mary riding on a donkey as her and Joseph went to Bethlehem – she being great with child! I can’t even imagine that ride.
I thought about Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem less than week before He was crucified.
I thought about how we who are saved will be caught up into the air when the rapture takes place – no visible means of transportation, yet it will be the best trip I’ll ever make!
I thought about the angels that carried Lazarus (the beggar) to Abraham’s bosom.
I thought about how Jesus will come back on a white horse to conquer this world and rule it for 1,000 years. And we who are saved will come back with Him.
I’m sure there are others stories in the Bible that you can think of – maybe Elijah being caught up in a chariot of fire, or something else – but it calmed my heart to think that the Lord pays attention to all of this. He cares about my transportation and travel. In fact, He even had me upgraded for free to business class on the flight about which I was worrying, without me even asking! Not only did I make the connection without any difficulty at all, we actually got in 20 minutes early to Chicago, and I was able to get something to eat. And, my flight out was on the same concourse as my arriving flight.
I can tell you of at least three times the Lord has graciously upgraded my seating when I have traveled overseas, and of times the Lord has protected me when I’ve accidently ended up someplace I shouldn’t have been. It was a sweet time of remembering His watch care of me, and it was a great exercise in changing my thinking from worry to praise. One small baby step of growth!
