Expectation management. Aug 23
“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.”
Exodus 23:20
These past two weeks have been traveling hell for me. I will spare you the details and summarize it this way: delays, cancellations, and missed connections. It appears the traveling mercies I prayed for had been denied. It felt like with each new setback, it was apparent that God was not with me. I missed one connection because the plane decided to leave early. I saw them closing the door as I approached the gate. Just a mere 50 ft away and running, I missed the flight because my first flight left late, and my connection left early. The gate agent said there was nothing he could do about it.
This was all too much to be a coincidence. I wondered what great sin I had committed for this to happen. What karma was I reaping? It got to the point where I had become so disenchanted that I just stopped praying altogether. What was the point? If this was a test of my patience, I am sure I failed. I handled these setbacks far better than in my B.C. days (Before Chaplaincy). But I still abandoned hope. What lesson was I supposed to learn from this?
The obvious lesson is Semper Gumby, always flexible. Things will not always go according to plan. The second lesson is expectation management. That goes right along with Semper Gumby. Sometimes we need to readjust our thinking and adapt to the circumstances. But the real lesson I think I was supposed to learn is that I was never alone throughout each travel inconvenience. God’s traveling mercies were right there with me from the beginning. I was never promised an easy journey, but I was promised safe delivery to my destination, which was accomplished. I arrived safely and unharmed at every place.
We are not promised an easy journey. But we are promised protection along the way to the place that has been prepared.