Real people. Real hard circumstances. Whenever fallible humans and painful situations collide…watch out! What you will find is lots of ugly, broken pieces. You will find tension-filled, and sometimes even hate-breathing humanity.

Last week, I made a brief trip to drive my parents home to Florida. I was only going to be gone overnight, but what should’ve been a one and a half hour brief flight home, ended up becoming a twenty four hour nightmare of circumstances. (or so I thought…)

Driving down to Florida

My flight was bumped a total of six times. Because of the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting, planes were being redirected to the airport I was at. The airport began filling with distraught people, some who were frantic about the safety of their family members who were at the Fort Lauderdale airport to pick them up.

Our flight was delayed several times, before we finally left for Asheville, NC. During this time, Asheville had been getting more and more snow, so after a rather intense half hour of circling the airport, it was determined that it wasn’t safe enough for us to land. We were instead rerouted to Kentucky to wait until the weather cleared.

We stood in line to board only to be told, “The Asheville airport still isn’t open.” Then it was,

“The flight crew was expired.” Then,

“The plane’s battery is drained because of the intense cold.”, Then,

“The plane coming to pick you up was delayed because said battery-drained plane is blocking the terminal.” 

It started getting ugly.

Airport personnel trying to figure out a game plan

It was late at night and people were hungry, trying to stay warm in ten degree weather, waiting for taxis or shuttles to take them to motel rooms until the morning. Many of us didn’t have coats (since we were coming from Florida) or a change of clothes.

People were demanding to go back to Florida. Others were making belittling and rude statements to the flight crew. The language I heard around me was terrible and filled with cuss words. People began blaming the airlines and saying they didn’t trust them.

I also struggled to accept the circumstance. I so desperately wanted to get back home to my family to enjoy being “snowed in” within the comforts of our home and to help take care of my little girls who weren’t feeling well.

As I saw the craziness around me, I began to tell God that I still believe in His sovereignty and that I will begin looking for what He may want me to accomplish in this situation.

And did He ever give me opportunities.

I was able to help a distraught lady, traveling alone and in a wheelchair, to get in touch with her family at the Fort Lauderdale airport and help with her arrangements for being shuttled back home by bus. A woman sitting ahead of me was having a panic attack while we were circling Asheville, unable to land. I tried to encourage her. A minor was traveling alone and in tears. I helped a worried eighty-four year old lady finally reach her son who ended up being stuck in traffic due to the snow storm until 3:30 AM. I helped take care of another eighty-nine year old lone traveler who was involved in witchcraft. I took her with me to the motel room, shared some of the food a friend so kindly dropped off for me, and pushed her in her wheelchair. I was able to have several good conversations with her about the Lord and His ways. Another woman was struggling to accept the death of a loved one and said she was struggling with bitterness toward God…and slowly, I began seeing these opportunities as blessings instead of a complete nightmare.

The next morning when I checked into the airport, the counter manager choked up as she thanked me for what I had done the previous day in for helping those around me. She said this hardly happens any more. Most people only worry about themselves.

Now before you think I’m super religious or perfect, let me share what the Holy Spirit later convicted me of. My response to the counter manager was that I was helping these older women like I’d want others to help my parents if they were in a similar situation. I missed a huge opportunity to communicate that it was because of the love of Jesus in my heart. Because I know that apart from the love of God, I wouldn’t have cared for any of them. And I’m grieved that I missed this moment.

It was God who filled me with love towards this woman involved in the occult. And she told me she was drawn to this love. I shared my testimony, and I don’t know if she’ll ever turn to Jesus, but I know she was thinking heavily about why I would choose to take her “under my wing”. Please pray with me for her salvation.

As I saw the panic attacks, anger, heavy drinking at the airport bar, practicing meditation and occult activities, I was overwhelmed and appalled at raw humanity. And the danger of unbelief.

Without faith in God, we’re doomed. Faith in God is the ONLY hope for raw, broken humanity. When our faith doesn’t make us different, we’re doomed. When we talk about our faith in God, but it doesn’t make a difference in how we trust and rely in His sovereignty, we don’t really believe in Him. D.L. Moody said, “Faith takes God without any ifs.”

I see unbelief in my own life. When things begin spinning out of control, my natural tendency is to attempt to take control. Instead of quietly resting until God moves, I try to fix or change. In my own strength. Instead of having faith in God. I like this quote from Corrie Ten Boom, “Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.”  So why have we quit seeing God’s bigger picture, believing in the impossible, and receiving His extraordinary grace?

Let me ask you, if faith in God is the only hope for our broken world, are you proactive in sharing it? Or does your pride hinder you just as it did me? Are you more concerned to not be labeled as radical or unusual than you are of a lost soul doomed for hell? Has your unbelief prevented you from speaking words of faith in your sovereign God?

Jesus bridges the gap between raw humanity and raw faith. Let’s make Him known in a greater way this year. Apart from Him, there is no beauty!

PC: KsAllen

~Cindy (For The Mullett Family)