Get Lost
I have a routine for just about everything. A surprise party would not go over well with me. A couple of weeks ago, I flew from Jacksonville to North Carolina with a transfer in Atlanta. When I fly, I usually plan how I’m going to use my time. On the flight between Jacksonville and Atlanta, I finished my work early and decided to watch a sitcom. Using the inflight entertainment was unusual for me because I rarely finish the work I’ve assigned to myself.
After grabbing lunch in Atlanta, I made my way to the gate for my flight to North Carolina. At that point, I realized that I did not have my iPad. After looking through my carryon luggage, I realized that I had left my iPad on the plane from Jacksonville to Atlanta. I blamed the slight change in routine. I attempted to activate the “find my iPhone” soft wear, but I received a message that the device was offline. I realized that my iPad was in airplane mode. I reported my loss to the airline. A couple of days later, I decided to try activating the “find my iPhone” soft wear again. It worked! My iPad was at the airport in Phoenix, Arizona in Terminal 3. The airline agreed to mail my iPad to me. It was interesting to virtually watch my iPad travel from Arizona to Texas and then to Oklahoma. And then it went offline. I couldn’t tell where it was. I got nervous. Would I actually get my iPad back? The next day, my iPad was back online. It was in Memphis and finally, it was in Jacksonville. I was relieved.
Do you get nervous when God seems to go “offline”? You’ve prayed and followed His lead, and then He seems to go silent. What are you supposed to do? Trust Him and trust the process. Once I got nervous about my iPad, it was still on its way. It was probably in flight between Oklahoma and Memphis. My anxiety was wasted energy. We all love it when the Lord obviously closes a door or opens a window. As we mature as Christians, we have to know that He is still present even when it does not seem so obvious. When we can’t see or feel Him, we have to trust that He is working on us and working on our situations even when we don’t know it. Increased faith and spiritual growth occur when the Lord gives us the opportunity to trust without seeing. The next time you feel lost, know that He is not offline.
