Sitting on a Jet Plane!

Some of you may remember the old song, “Leaving on a Jet Plane!” Well, yesterday I would have done anything to have been leaving, as I was sitting, waiting for my flight from Charlotte, NC back to New Jersey.  Instead, we first got notice of a one hour delay due to air traffic in the New York-New Jersey air space. Once we boarded, the pilot apologized for the delay and said we would be leaving shortly. Soon, however, he came back on the loudspeaker apologizing that we would be sitting on the plane for another 30 – 45 minutes, depending on when we got permission to take off.  So, rather than leaving on a jet plane, we all found ourselves sitting on a jet plane! And, there was nothing any of us could do about it.  

On a positive note, although we were delayed, we knew that we would not be there forever. The pilot assured us that eventually we would be taking off, albeit a bit later than originally planned.  He assured us that we would be making the flight to New Jersey.  In essence, the pilot gave us hope—hope that we would not be stuck forever in Charlotte on a runway; hope that we would make it to our destination. Thankfully he was right. We did eventually take off and make it to New Jersey.

Any one who flies knows the feeling!

We all need that kind of hope in life, do we not?  None of us wants to feel like we will be stuck forever where we are in life, especially when life has stopped us in our tracks and kept us from moving forward. Unfortunately, however we all know unexpected things happen in life that keep us sitting, waiting, and longing.  Maybe you feel like that today.  If so, don’t despair, God your pilot wants you to know there is yet hope.  

The Bible is filled with promises of hope, reminding us over and over again that we will not live forever in the situations that we find ourselves in today. He tells us that, things will not always remain as they are; there is hope, both for this life and for the life to come. The call to us is to put our hope in God, by believing his word to us.    

The prophet Micah knew that hope when he wrote, “But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,   I wait for God my Savior;  my God will hear me.” (Micah 7:7 – NIV) The psalmist knew that hope when he wrote, “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.”             (Psalm 130:5 – NIV) The writer of Hebrews wrote, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”  (Hebrews 6:19 – NIV) Each one of these biblical writers knew that the way things are in life are not the way they will always be. As we serve God, there is always hope: the hope of his intervention to change our circumstances; the hope for God’s strength and grace to get us through; the hope that one day God will bring us to our eternal destination. 

God will not leave us forever sitting on some runway of life. He will be faithful to get us to the destination he has planned. He’s that kind of pilot!

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” (1 Thessalonians 2:16-17)

Have a great day!

Pastor Tim Harris