God Adventure

I had a God Adventure yesterday and learned first hand how amazing of a Navigator God is. I had flown all day from 10am for 9 hours, two different flights. Both my flights, I had to find my way and I followed the signs and asked for help and was able to easily find my departure gates. My second flight touched down in France. It was 11pm my time and 6am their time and I was tired, which means I don’t think as well, I am sure you know what I mean. So, foreign country, foreign language and they dumped us out and off I went to try to find my way to my departure gate. I got in the airport maze following the signs for G2 which was the only thing my ticket gave me. I did not have a gate number, nor did I have a clue where to go. I was changing airlines and I did not speak the language, and I had two hours till my flight took off.

Deuteronomy 31:8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged

I have felt that way in life before, haven’t you? God does things so differently than we do and sometimes He does not speak our language of comfort and ease and sometimes we do feel like we are in a maze trying to find our way. The point is, we may feel lost, but He knows exactly where we are and where He is taking us and we may feel very uncomfortable, but we are never without Him. 

I followed the airport maze until it stopped at this underground Tram transporter. I followed the signs for G2 and got on that Tram. When I got off, I was hoping that this would be it, but it was far from it, farther than I could have even known. It is not always easy, but God always has a plan to teach and grow us, not easy, but good for us.

I stepped off the Tram into this huge empty room with a big flight board filled with hundreds of flights, it was overwhelming and immediately I felt anxiety as my thoughts screamed “You are not going to make this flight, you are going to get stuck here” and that was the most perfect fear thought that the enemy could tempt me with. I started to scan the board, could not find my flight. Stood there for a long time just gaping. Then came the thoughts of what I didn’t have. “Your phone is not working, no internet, you don’t speak the language, you are alone.” 

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand

Whenever we feel stuck in an impossible situation the enemy feeds us the worse case scenario thought.  Have you noticed, We buy into that, then our enemy goes further and sucks out all the possibilities by pointing out our lack. Then we are focused on our enemy and boom, he hits us with fear and anxiety. Smack!

Psalm 1:1-6 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

There I stood, in front of that board with hundreds of flights changing up and down, listening to people talk in different languages paralyzed in impossibly and feeling utterly alone. The thing is, I have an Advocate, The Holy Spirit of God, and it was like He tapped me on my shoulder and woke me up out of my fearful stupor. I prayed, I asked God for help, I told Him what I needed and I asked Him to make my way.

Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

I kept standing in front of the board, trying to see if I could find my flight and all of a sudden, someone walks up to this thing that looked like a separate kiosk, I was impressed on to watch them. They but their boarding pass on the QR Code, and up pops their flight information! Oh my gosh… so easy! So, I asked and God gave me that missing piece of information. Okay, so I still needed to find my way to G2.

I followed the only way out of the room down two sets of stairs to another platform and saw a stair upwards but it didn’t have G2. Oh no, what now? I stood there for a while and then someone came up to me, they were helping someone in a wheel chair. She spoke in French, I did not understand, so I showed her my boarding pass and she pointed to elevator, so I got in and followed her and took me to another set of Trams. I never would have found the Trams without that sweet caring angel.

It is hard to find our way in this life at times. When we are trusting God and He shows us a way that seems like a dead end, we usually give up feeling discouraged and defeated. Some of our biggest times of spiritual growth are at what we perceive as a dead end. We learn an incredible lesson that things are not always as they seem with God, there are so many God purposes in play in the unseen, so we never embrace what we see, we embrace God and walk by faith and we believe He is at work, so we trust and patiently endure until our Way-Maker God lights up the path for our next steps. 

Psalm 91:11-12 He will command His heavenly messengers to guard you, to keep you safe in every way. They will hold you up in their hands so that you will not crash, or fall, or even graze your foot on a stone.

So I stood in front of this Tram looking for confirmation that this was the way I should go. I saw at the top of the Tram sections a flashing number, so I kept walking hoping to see G2… and there it was. Sometimes you just have to step out in faith, activate your faith and move. I found that out as I walked to different platforms until I saw the G2 and I got in, and wasn’t totally sure how I would know when to get out, but I knew I was not alone. And sometimes, when we take that step of faith, this is all we need to know, and acknowledge that God, Who is totally for us, is still with us. 

The Tram took off, but unfortunately the stops were in French and when we got to what I thought was a G2, because I heard 2, I asked someone next to me and she said yes, G2, so I stepped out. God uses everything to help us find our way, and especially uses people. We should lower our pride and just ask. Let God work in the way He chooses.

So, I got off the Tram and entered what I have grouchily referred to as another airport maze. Down several flights of stairs, I ended up at security and wasn’t sure what to do, so I followed my common sense because this was the only way. I went through security and then was ushered into a passport checkpoint and then out, and down stairs again to a basement kind of feeling with one girl standing there before an open door on the ground floor. So weird!

Isn’t that like God, to take us through the rigorous up and downs, as we complain about His methods, yet we are experiencing a new trust. It would be so easy to get what we asked for immediately and some times we do, but sometimes it does feel like God is taking us through the maze and we are learning the wisdom of followship, and through the stretching of our faith, this leads to a strong trust. We grow through!

I showed the girl my boarding pass, and asked if I was in the right place, because how weird was this, an open door to the outside of the airport and her. She nodded her head yes, she spoke in French, and I didn’t understand her, but she said the word bus. So I asked the Lord to lead me once again. More people came and we all got on a bus. We take off on this bus and my thought was: “What if I am not heading where I think I am, I am going to be stuck here, lost  forever in Paris”!

Ephesians 6:16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one

Right before a breakthrough, the enemy throws those flaming missiles that try to set your confidence on fire and burn it to ashes, that is his mean spirited intention! I was so confident that I was finding my way and then the bus! Things happen suddenly that throw confusion into the mix, and we do learn through experience, that confusion is always the devil’s playground, we have to press through it with truth.

I sat on the bus taking me to who knows where and I knew God had led me to that point, the bus, so He was in this, so I started speaking truth to my fear. At that point we drove up to what looked like a warehouse, which I thought was totally weird but, but at the top it said G2! Yes!!! This was it, even though it wasn’t what I expected. So once again, up more stairs through corridor maze again!!

“My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him. He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved.” Psalm 62:5-6 AMPC

Finally I reached an area where there was a semblance of what an airport should look like! There were a lot of monitors and I found my flight but still not a gate number… I was beginning to feel like I would never make this plane and I got discouraged because I had come so far. I also was beginning to feel lonely because no one was speaking my language. But, I decided not to chase feelings, to stay connected to God and wait on Him.

That is the way life rolls at times, those almost there moments. We are confronted with choices, the choice is, be defeated, give up, or keep believing, and stepping out in faith. So I went up to the desk and asked but everyone spoke French, but at least I knew I was in the right place. When you are almost there, stay focused and keep waiting for navigation from God for those those last steps, because right before the victory, the enemy dishes out everything in his arsenal. You are in the right place when you are positioned heart to heart with God, waiting on Him. I kept watching the Flight monitor and all of a sudden I changed up my focus to the bottom and that is when I saw running across the ticker, that a half hour before every flight, they posted the gate number. I kept my focus on my flight and they finally posted the flight gate. So thankfully down the corridor and a final set of stairs, I was in line waiting to board the plane. Oh the joy! And that is the way God rolls!

“Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.” Romans 5:3-4 AMPC

Thanks for stopping into The Bridegrooms Cafe today at The Author Table. We hope you were spiritually fed by the Author’s Great God Adventures overseas. God bless ya.