Walking in Peace

“I have told you these things, that in me you might have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heat! I have overcome the world” John 16:33

Back in my early twenties, I was on a flight home. There were three of us flying that evening and we were all split up. I was sitting next to a complete stranger. Those of you who have ever met me before, know that I rarely meet a stranger. It usually doesn’t take me long at all to make friends with new people.

On this particular night, my seatmate was an air traffic controller. I’ve always found that to be a fascinating if not stressful, job. I had dozens of questions for him and he politely answered them.

When I say that we ran into some turbulence later that evening, I am not kidding. It was like riding a roller coaster. The aircraft bumped and dropped repeatedly. The flight attendants strapped themselves in. One of them even threw up. It was that bad.

I’ve never really loved to fly. The loss of control has always unnerved me a little. But, that night, my new air traffic controller friend, talked to me the entire flight. We talked about how most crashes are survivable. We talked about finding the exits if we needed them. We talked about how most people ignore the safety video which has important information on how to get off of a disabled airplane.

He was perfectly calm, which led me to be as well.

When we finally landed and I secured some ginger ale for my own queasy tummy, I met up with my group. The first thing my friend asked me in an exasperated tone, was how was I so calm? He pointed out that all of the passengers on board were silence in white knuckled fear while me and my new friend never stopped talking, acting like it was no big deal.

I laughed. He didn’t know who I was sitting with. I told him that I was with a seasoned air traffic controller and he wasn’t worried, then why should I be? It really never occurred to me to be frightened.

I’ve thought of that night many times over the years and what it taught me.

Sitting next to the air traffic controller in the storm, reminds me of walking with Jesus in the storm. There are things that happen to us and situations that we find ourselves in, that can absolutely terrify us like the rest of the passengers on that airplane that night. We can surrender to the fear and stress and hang on tightly with white knuckles, or we can lean into Jesus and know that He’s got this, whatever it is and we need not fear.

God is never surprised and when we really wrap our brains around that notion, we can always walk in peace. Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂