BrothersOfTheBook.com

Flying High

Proverbs 10-12

Well, I can tell you this now that I’m home, but I’ve been out of town all week at my company’s annual sales meeting.  I’m exhausted.  I think I have told you all before that I stay one day ahead of you all on the reading plan so I can write the post and have it on-line and in e-mail Inboxes a little after 1am every day.  This allows for early risers in various time zones to have their daily reading reference available as early as they need it; but I digress.  As I write this post I am sitting in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport waiting for my flight.  The fact that I am waiting is a blessing.

On the way to the airport my driver asked me to find out my departure terminal since American Airlines used three different terminals.  I grabbed my handy iPhone and started stabbing at the screen.  American Airlines dutifully informed me of my departure gate and terminal along with this equally helpful note that the flight was cancelled.  I had to scratch my head a little bit as I was confused as to how a cancelled flight could have a gate and terminal but I must admit that I just don’t speak airline.

I called our company travel department and they informed me that the flight had been cancelled due to mechanical difficulties and that they had scheduled me to return home at 7am the next morning.  This was not good.  My wonderful wife has been holding down the fort for a week and she needs a reprieve from the consequences of single parenthood.  The travel person informed me that I would need to go to the ticket counter and get the airline to provide a voucher for the overnight stay.  I must admit that I was not feeling particularly joyful at this point.

Years ago I had accompanied my parents to their departure gate at the Atlanta airport.  Obviously this was back when a non-ticketed person could do such a thing.  As we approached we heard an announcement informing us that the flight was cancelled.  My dad was concerned, but we got in line at the counter and waited for our turn to discuss their options.  I watched as one angry passenger after another walked up to the counter and gave the ticket agent a hard time.  The guy in front of me was particularly ugly.  I’m referring to his attitude and language not his appearance.  Every person in front of us was told that no other options were available that night and that they would have to wait until the next day to fly.

Finally our turn with the agent arrived and I smiled at her and said something to the effect that I felt badly for how she was being treated.  I encouraged her to “hang in there”.  She smiled and I told her I was trying to help my parents get to their destination and asked her to inform us of our options.  She tapped away on her keyboard for a moment and then looked first to the left and then to the right, leaned in toward us, and with a lowered voice informed us that she could get them on a flight to their destination.  The flight was leaving soon and she managed to get them into first class at no additional charge.  I smiled and thanked her.  She smiled and said “No, thank you.”

Now, as I walked into DFW airport, I reminded myself of that experience.  I took a deep breath, calmed myself, and stepped up to the counter.  I smiled and said “I understand I won’t be going home today.”  What followed was a conversation where I pleasantly communicated my great desire to get home as soon as possible.  My attitude was one of understanding.  I communicated my acceptance of the fact that some things just couldn’t be helped.  The wonderful agent behind the counter, Alma, gave me a concerned look and asked for my name and flight information.  Sure enough, my flight was cancelled.  As she continued to tap away on her keyboard the news got worse and worse.  There was no space on any American flights.  She checked the other airlines; no joy there.  She then started looking at routing through other cities; still no go.  She didn’t want to get me stranded and showed great concern about my situation.

Finally she told me that the only option she could find routed me from Atlanta, through Charlotte, and finally into Nashville.  As you can imagine I would be arriving late at night.  My desire to get home was great enough that I told her I would take that deal.  She frowned.  She didn’t like the idea of putting me through that.  She kept typing.

I must tell you that I silently prayed throughout this process that God would bless the situation.  Now sometimes a blessing is not getting what you want.  Sometimes a blessing is missing a flight.  This time the blessing was announced with a surprised look on the agents face.  She said “That wasn’t there a minute ago.  They just added a flight.”  It was direct from Dallas to Nashville.  It meant I would spend almost 4 hours waiting in the airport but I would get to Nashville at 9:40pm that night.

Now I am sure you are asking yourself what all of this has to do with our reading today in Proverbs.  Look at this pair of verses.

Proverbs 12:13-14

“ An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,

but the righteous escapes from trouble.

From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good,

and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him. “

Anger doesn’t necessarily equate to evil but it usually does and here is how.  I don’t know about you but I usually get angry when I feel that I have been treated poorly or unfairly.  You see, I think I deserve better than that.  My focus is on myself and what I deserve.  This is sin.  Do you know why?  Do you remember Luke 9:23?

Luke 9:23

“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

I believe that all sin comes from a place of self-centeredness.  Christ tells us that to follow Him we must deny ourselves; we must reject sin.  As followers of Christ it is incumbent upon us to be good ambassadors.  We must place our focus on the mission Christ has given us instead of ourselves.  We must reflect His light in a dark and dying world.  What we cannot afford to do is act like the dead and dying.  Responding angrily to a perceived slight or personal inconvenience is elevating one’s self above Christ.  Do you think Christ was “slighted”?  Do you think He was “inconvenienced”?  Uh, you bet your bippy!  (I realize that only those of you old enough to remember the ‘60s comedy show Laugh In would get that reference.)

You see, we have a responsibility in Christ.  One of the many problems in our society today is the prevailing attitude that we have rights but no responsibilities.  As citizens of Heaven, you and I certainly do have rights, but more importantly we have responsibilities.  One responsibility is to deny ourselves.  It might feel good to unload on someone when things don’t go our way but doing so is an abdication of our responsibilities as followers of Christ.

My point here is that anger, and letting our mouths unload on others, is usually evil.  (I say usually because there is such a thing as “righteous anger” as Jesus showed us in the whipping of the money changers in the temple, but this was not self focused but God focused.) If I had responded to my traveling challenge as I have seen so many do, I suspect I would be on an airplane for home sometime after you’ve read this.

Guarding our tongue is a righteous act.  Guarding our tongue helps us to escape from trouble.  As verse 14 goes on to say, “from the fruits of his mouth a man is satisfied with good and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him.”  Treating that ticket agent with understanding, compassion, and thankfulness returned good.  She made an extra effort to take care of me.

Now it is possible that she was simply doing her job as her company trained her to.  It is also possible that she treats all passengers that way because she is a sister in Christ and that is what her Lord requires of her.  My point is that my behavior was not an impediment to blessing.  I did not get angry.  Anger separates me from God.  I did not get heart burn or indigestion from angst.  I did not lose the peace Christ died to give me.  I floated through the situation the way Christ intended me to.  Whether I had to stay overnight or not, I had the peace of Jesus.  I glorified Him in how I behaved and was rewarded with His peace.  You notice that I am not saying I was blessed with a timely departure home.  I was, but that was the lesser blessing, and I still had the greater blessing even if I ended up staying overnight.

Brothers, I implore you to guard your tongues and attitudes.  Don’t give in to the self-centered urges pursued every day by the lost that surround you.  To be a light in that darkness you will have to reflect Christ, which means denying yourself and doing as He would do.  Be true to your responsibilities in Christ guys.  It truly is the road to peace!

Have a peaceful day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!