A Day Where I Need MUCH of God
By Elisa Morgan
I raced down the toll road, praying I'd make it to the airport in time for the replacement flight. The night before, my flight had been cancelled and a special guest interview, secured finally after three long years of unapologetic begging, was at risk of becoming a no-go. I HAD to get from Denver to Grand Rapids for the agreed-upon three-hour window. Instead of my previously booked nonstop, I'd have to layover in another city, arriving ninety minutes into our appointment, but hopefully still with adequate time to record a robust offering with this sought-after leader. As I drove, I blurted out a prayer to God. "This is a need-MUCH-of-God day. Not a handle-it-myself-with-just-a-bit-of-your help day." I listened to myself. Really, Elisa? Chastened at the perspective I'd revealed, that there is ANY day ANY time that's not a "need-much-of-God-day?" My thoughts turned to other moments of panic where I'd flattened myself out before God for help in a travel predicament of seismic proportions, most of them emergency-driven. When my son-in-law buzzed my cellphone as I was boarding a four-hour return flight to tell me that my daughter's water had prematurely broken - gasping out his need for what to do. Then I sat in silence in the steel tomb, pray-waiting through the clouds until I reached her side and witnessed the heart-breaking transition of a grandchild from here to heaven. When I flew to my father's bedside in his last days and then lay next to him, whispering Psalm 23 and The Lord's Prayer into his ear as he relinquished his life. When my husband contracted a life-threatening blood infection while I was a continent away, forcing me to rearrange my return until flights headed back in the direction I'd just flown - but in time to arrive at his side and watch him heal. So many frightening trips to address shattering health journeys. Some of my travels have been happily rearranged. Like when I was gifted a night in a posh airport hotel where I snuggled under a down comforter to watch the Winter Olympics after being stranded in a blizzard. Or when after a displaced housing mess on a ministry assignment, I poured an entire bottle of bubble bath into another airport hotel's bathtub and discovered a television hanging in the bathroom with on-demand movies. Score! But oh-so-many travel interruptions have been about the serious, complicated and stressful realities of life. The hurricane threatening a convention of the mom movement I led - and the travel of thousands of mom members. The longed-for reunion with my brother after a deep trial in his life, delayed and delayed and delayed until I feared I wouldn't make it at all. The vacation long-planned with my husband struck dark by unexpected weather. Here I was again, hustling through the wee-hours of the morning to catch a rescheduled flight to keep a long-planned-for ministry appointment where my presence was strategic: I was the only female at the table of men in a recorded-for-millions conversation about marriage. I punched the gas, sighed and rehearsed - again - all God was bringing to mind. Somehow, in each of the journey detours of my past, he had been present with me. Reminding me of his overarching knowledge. Assuring me of his all-powerful control. Holding me in his unending embrace of peace. He had this. Safely parked and then through security, I checked the departure gate on an unfamiliar airline for my rearranged flight. Just above it, another flight to my same destination appeared - a nonstop that had never been offered the night before after my two-hour wait at customer service. A nonstop leaving at the same time as my rescheduled flight but arriving two hours earlier - and just in time - for the appointment. I made my way to yet a third airline's customer service desk and found it didn't open until 5 a.m. - ten minutes away and 20 minutes from my rescheduled boarding time. I waited. I pulled up the airline's website and began tapping in my info. And then a helpful customer service agent appeared, listened to my need and tapped her own computer's keys to eventually hand over a boarding pass with an exit row window seat - where incidentally the middle seat remained empty next to me. As I wrote these reflections on my need for MUCH of God, I looked to my left, to that unoccupied - yet fully occupied - seat where the God of the universe seemingly hovered next to me. Ready to provide his presence in all those days when I need MUCH of God to get through a day.
I pray that I remember to take MUCH of my God with me. Every day. In every scheduled and rescheduled moment of life.
Elisa Morgan is an author and speaker and the cohost of Discover the Word and contributor to Our Daily Bread. Her latest book is You Are Not Alone. Her other books include When We Pray Like Jesus, The Beauty of Broken, and Hello, Beauty Full. Connect with Elisa @elisa_morgan on Twitter, and @elisamorganauthor on Facebook and Instagram.