Blessings on the Tempest

Before my husband and I boarded the plane for our vacation, I needed a new book. I can’t fly without one. What am I going to do—talk with the person next to me? I had considered taking Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth but decided to leave it at home. A story about a terrifying journey was probably not the tome for a romantic getaway.

To pray or not to pray

While I searched the airport for reading material, I found myself in a spiritual crisis. Should I pray for our trip or not?

Just the basics: no terrorists, no lost luggage, no thunderstorms. Since we were traveling to Mexico, I guessed I should add no swine flu and no drug cartels to the list.

I noticed a church group with matching lime-green shirts advertising their trip to Guatemala. Certainly they deserved prayer. They were probably saving the lost. I was going to the Mexican Riviera with my husband. Praying about my vacation felt selfish.

I climbed aboard without a book and let my mind wander to previous vacations, especially our ski trip this past winter.

Traveling mercies

We had left our Colorado cabin at dark, just as a blizzard struck. As a Central Texan, I had not thought to pray about blizzards. Suddenly a snowplow pulled right in front of us. His taillights were literally the only thing we could see. We followed him for 20 miles until he turned around. Just as we started up Berthoud Pass, the snow stopped. God covered what we forgot to pray for.

His traveling mercies seemed to be following us on this trip to Mexico too. We arrived. We relaxed. We left.

Storm blessings

The storm hit on the trip home. We were delayed on the tarmac for over an hour by a Texas thunderstorm. I still resisted praying. Why hadn’t I at least brought along ol’ Jules Verne for comfort?

Finally I struck up a conversation with the passenger next to me. This 20-something woman could only be described as a poor, lost soul. She was covered in tattoos and her hair looked like a Mohawk that simply gave up. She told me her life story, which matched her outward appearance. We talked for the rest of the flight.

The lime green church group would be disappointed that I did not try to convert the young woman. However, I did pray for her.

Safely home, I picked up Journey to the Center of the Earth again and finished it. Late in the book, the adventurers are tossed on an underground sea. After reaching land, they make an important discovery they would have missed if they had stayed on course.

"Blessings on the tempest!" cried one character.

Yes, blessings. Without that blizzard in Colorado, I would not have seen God’s grace in a snowplow. If a thunderstorm had not struck Houston, I would never have talked to or prayed for that passenger.

Whether I pray for blue skies or not, storms will come. Some of those tempests will bring unexpected blessings.

Questions for personal reflection, online discussion, or small groups:

• How do you approach praying for travel?
• When have you talked with a stranger on a plane? What resulted from that interaction?
• When has the Lord provided for travel needs you never anticipated?
• When have you found blessings in a tempest?