Just got back from my very first trip outside of North America. A group of 20+ of us from my church – Lord’s Tabernacle Holiness Church – flew 13 hours from Memphis to Israel, and spent a week touring the area. It was a great trip!
I almost cancelled because of my fear of being very uncomfortable in the main cabin for such a long flight. I’m 5’8″ and ‘quite ‘fluffy’. I love to fly, but until now the longest flight I’ve had was 4.5 hours to San Francisco a few times. I’d planned to lose at least 50 lbs before the flight but I only lost about 15 or so. Would I feel like a watermelon stuffed into a pickle jar the whole time? The idea was not appealing at all.
I was also concerned about using my CPAP machine for my sleep apnea and would I be up to all of the walking the trip required. These are real situations that I have to plan for as best I can. I had a choice to make. Either let the potential fears hinder me and I cancel the trip -or- trust God and Go?
Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying:
“It is the LORD who goes before you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 AMP
In this passage, Moses is getting ready to pass off the scene and the charge to lead the Children of Israel into the promised land would fall to Joshua. Moses is encouraging Joshua not to be afraid because our God is one who goes with us and even goes before us. That means that even before I boarded the plane, God is already there, He knows everywhere I’m going, every hotel, restaurant, and site. I can trust Him and rest in His ability to make everything work out all right. And that’s exactly what happened. I had a great time!
Here are some photos from the trip:
