God's Love Reached me in the Heavens

Our Friday Devotion comes to us from Council Member, Lahoma:

"Your love, O God, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies" Psalm 36:5

I traveled to San Francisco last weekend to participate in the Nike Women’s Half Marathon. I had decided not to drive because flights to SFO are usually short and cheap, and I wouldn’t miss work because I could fly up on Saturday and coming back Sunday night. Plus not sitting in a car for six hours after running 13.1 miles is always a BIG plus for me! The flight up was uneventful, and I managed to maneuver through public transportation and enjoyed the challenge of getting to my hotel and finding my friends who were joining me in town mid day. The race was great, and I got to share with several people along the way. It seemed like a seamless adventure… until I started my journey home on Sunday night.

As I headed towards the SFO airport on the BART subway system, I subconsciously noticed an odd sense of concern in the air. An increasing police presence on the streets of Union Square and Fire truck sirens going off more and more as I got closer and closer to the subway had caught my attention, but I really didn’t pay much mind because after being in many large cities for previous races, I had learned that this was a usual occurrence. It just so happened that in San Francisco on that same weekend with our race were two other major sporting events taking place on the same day, so I concluded it to be natural that there would be more of a police presence on the streets. Little did I know until I reached the airport that there had been an “unstable person of interest” walking through the subway tunnels, and the heightened security was in response to an underground bomb scare targeting the additional people using public transportation (me being one of them!). Apparently, my subway was the FIRST ONE to go through the tunnels when they had given up on actually finding “the crazy man” as the BART conductor referred to him…. I didn’t really find out any of these details until I was already at the airport, and as I settled into my seat on my flight home, I gave a quiet prayer of thanks to the Lord for His unfailing protection even in my ignorance of the danger around me.

God wasn’t done showing me that His ever watchful Eye was upon me that night. As we took off over the central mountains of northern California, our cabin lights started to flicker 20 minutes into the flight. The t.v. screens stopped working, the air conditioning turned off, the flight attendants disappeared with the beverage service that had just started, and when we could finally understand the announcer, the pilot came onto the speaker system and calmly informed us that we were going to return to San Francisco because “one of our engines was no longer working, and the generator had “failed”). Most people just sat there in silence, a few got vocal, but I began to thank God that my life was in His Hands, and my time was in His Hands, and that although the efforts of man fail from time to time, He is still on His Throne, He NEVER fails and always keeps His promises to His children. I remember looking across the aisle after the captain had told us multiple times to remain calm, and saw a young woman who had this panicked look on her face. I smiled and told her that it would be ok, and that God’s love would reach US in the heavens, and that He was watching over us. I started to sing that Third Day song to her that starts with our devotional verse today from Psalm 36:5: “Your Love, Oh God, reaches to the heavens, Your Faithfulness reaches to the skies…. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountain, ohhhh, Your justice flows like the ocean's tide I will lift my voice to worship You, my King I will find my strength in the shadow of Your wings” She seemed to relax a bit and nervously lean back into her seat, and as we landed safely, we both smiled at each other as if to say in unspoken words that we were grateful to our God for His protection over us. We sat on the runway for about an hour as the fire trucks circled us to make sure we weren’t on fire (it was nice they were concerned about not pulling our plane up to the terminal and endangering the people inside, but you had to wonder what about US passengers inside the plane!). When the all clear sign came, they taxied up to a gate and released us into the airport to tell us that we had missed the opportunity to return to Orange County airport because it closed at 11 p.m., so since it was now midnight and we were still in San Francisco and my car was in overnight parking in OC, the airline gave me one of the last available hotel rooms near the airport so I could get in a few hours of sleep before catching a new flight home Monday morning. I finally got into bed around 1:30 a.m., (the first real chance to sleep since 3:30 a.m. that same morning when I had gotten up to run the race). As my head hit that soft pillow on a soft warm bed, I did not forget to once again thank God for His provision of a bed instead of a park bench or airport row of seats, I thanked Him for giving me another day to walk with Him, and I smiled and rested in His never-ending unfailing love for lil’ ole me stuck in San Francisco one more night. I sang Psalm 36 one more time as I drifted off to sleep.

The reason I share this with you is simply to remind someone out there that when believers in Christ walk by faith, and not by sight, we have a different level of peace that passes understanding, whether we are walking in a field of flowers, or painfully aware of pending danger, peril or uncertain outcomes in our day. God vividly reminded me at the same time that I had been in San Francisco at this same time of year (10/17/1989) about 23 years ago when the 7.1 San Francisco earthquake unexpectedly hit at 5:04 p.m., and He had watched over me through that ordeal as well. Regardless of the outcome of these recent incidents that happened during my journey home, it was well with my soul. I had peace knowing that my God was in control. I didn’t need to be clever, creative, resourceful, or even AWARE of what was happening in places before I arrived. I didn’t need to know, I just needed to KNOW my God. I need to immediately rely on finding my strength in the shadow of HIS wings, not mine, not the plane I am riding in. I must instinctively lift my voice in worship, whether my flesh fails or my life is preserved for yet another day of watching Him in action all around me. Remember this the next time “life” catches you off guard. When you have placed your hand firmly in the Hand of your Heavenly Father, HE will walk you through every situation and show you how He is watching over you in good times AND bad.

I pray for God’s Never ending Shalom (peace) IN and over your lives, even if you find yourself in similar unexpected “earthshaking” or “engine failing” or “crazy man in the tunnel” situations in your future, my dear brothers and sisters. Sing Psalm 36:5 to your King!

sister Lahoma

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