Those that know me know that I spend an inordinate amount of time in airplanes…kind of ironic in light of my not really being a fan of flying. I love airplanes – fascinated with them…just not a fan of some of the stuff that comes along with the bumpy air I seem to experience every single time I fly. Years ago I found myself having some pretty amazing one-on-one time with my Heavenly Dad during my flights. This has been in the form of time in The Word, listening to music and meditating on Him and the praise and worship that He is so deserving of, and the innumerous souls that I have sat near or next to. I try to make a practice of praying for these people before I ever get on the plane – my hope has been and will continue to be that they ‘know’ Jesus…if not that I’d be used to make the introduction (2Cor. 5:20). My batting average isn’t all that great with having the chutzpah to simply share Christ…most of the time nothing; some of the time small talk that dances near the Gospel; and then the rare sharing Jesus, and Him crucified, with my neighbor (1Cor. 2:2). When I have there have been two general reactions – this was completely new to the person OR they were already a believer and the exchange has been one of encouraging a fellow believer led by The Holy Spirit. Of course many, many times it’s been me that was encouraged by a believer that was there at just the right time with just the right words…enter my most recent trip.
I had the privilege of crossing paths with a delightful sister-in-faith who had shared with me some of her own challenges relating to church, much of which hit very close to home…and really drove home the importance for me of both communication and humility in our administration of the sacred duties that have been entrusted to us in how we minister within the local church. Our conversation took some wonderful twists and turns, talking about family, parenting, careers, cool places to take a vacation to. It was in the midst of talking careers that she shared a quote from someone that she admires that essentially framed the peril of staying in a comfortable situation too long. The warm bath. Now I’m not sure I’m going to get this completely right – but my take away from the word picture is that the bath has its place – it can be relaxing, reinvigorating, and practical. Stay in too long and you’ll turn into a raisin, zapped of your energy and will have missed the opportunity to do and pursue other things.
My mind immediately jumped to Peter and getting out of the boat (Matt. 14:29)…then I focused on the words that tell us that we are all capable of losing our usefulness if we don’t act (obey). Heard it many, many years ago and that is that delayed obedience is still just a form of disobedience. I don’t want to be one of those kids that constantly realizes that they’re disobeying their Parent, their Daddy (Rom. 8:15). The call to be a disciple of Jesus is one of death to self (Luke 9:23)…not a life of safety and comfort – whether in the boat or bath.
Having just finished a revival that was themed with water (“Thirst”) I found it funny that GOD sent me one more water lesson…
GBU – John 4:14
