Application 3

I am finally home and recovering. For those of you who didn't hear, it took me 3 days to get to Raleigh instead of the anticipated 1, due to several flight cancellations. And I was (and am) sick with a cold virus that got to my lungs and a stomach / intestinal virus. So, the last few days have been the most miserable days I can remember...
God just had one last thing He had to teach me before I left Guatemala.
The choice to be patient and rest in God's Providence or succumb to rage or bitterness is clear in such an unfortunate situation. Many of my fellow passengers chose the latter route. I remember overhearing another guy about my age who, when he found out about the second cancellation, became totally unintelligable, except for inarticulate bursts of profanity as he paced back and forth in his hooded sweatshirt. I wondered whom or what, if anyone or anything, he blamed for his misfortune. An airline is such an impersonal thing to blame for anything so particular as a mechanical failure. To me, God seems to be the most logical target for anger in such a situation.
Anyways, one instance of the ordeal I would like to share occurred when my group and I arrived at Guatemala Airport the second day. We were met by a nice woman (who was returning from a mission trip) who had a box of muffins she had bought just for us, saying that she "wouldn't want her daughter stranded in an airport without anyone to look out for her." This was a wonderful reminder (for me, at least) of grace and selflessness in a situation in which everyone (including myself) seemed consumed with their own ruined plans. In so many instances, this seems to be the way God works in each one of our lives, for we are all consumed with ourselves so much of the time. He changes our plans, allows us to experience pain, and makes us slow down until we know we have no choice but to rest in His provision... unless we want to end up like the guy in the hooded sweatshirt.
Granted, it wasn't a good experience and I would change it all if I could. Yet I am reminded, as the Holy Spirit reminded me a number of times as I sat in the Guatemala airport, that we are like trees, in a way so eloquently put by Dr. Randy Adams, a missionary friend of my family. It is only during droughts that the roots of trees go deep.