Thursday, August 11, 2011

Planes, Storms, and more. . .Part Two


Well, a few days ago I posted a blog of my trip to St. Lucia. . .   Boy, was it a trip I won’t soon forget!
Virtually the entire time I was there, I got to see what a Tropical Storm looks like, up close and personal.  It was really an interesting experience.  And on the island of St. Lucia, there was flooding and even mud slides.  It was a real mess.
As a result, there were lots of Hotel employee’s at the hotel that could not make it to work.  Restaurants were closed, and the shuttle service through the hillside resort was greatly curtailed.  At times, the rain was coming down so hard, that you could barely see anything over 30 feet away.  
On Wednesday August 3rd, I started the journey back to Guyana, and it was not quite as eventful as the trip over.  However, Liat. . .the airline (?) that I flew with did NOT disappoint.  They were operating as normal.  Which meant of course that they were late. . . late. . . late.
I started by being about 30 minutes late leaving the island of St. Lucia.  When I arrived in Barbados, of course the flight was set to take off in about 30 minutes.  I of course knew it was not going to work quite that way.  Now we were supposed to take off at 8pm, so at about 7:55pm, they came on the intercom and said that we were of course delayed and that they would tell us more at 9:15pm.  Sure enough, at about 9:25pm, they came on and said it would be about an hour and we would take off.  (Of course the aircraft hadn’t even landed yet.)
At 10:45pm, they came on and said we would board sometime soon. . . and sure enough, about 11pm, we did start the boarding process.  Most of the people going to Guyana were in fact Guyanese. . . so once they announced the boarding would start. . .there was a mad rush to the door, and everything bottle necked.
Then, when they finally told us we could board, it was really funny to watch as all the Guyanese raced across the runway, and then pushed and shoved, and bottlenecked again at the stairway to the plane.
Once on board, we sat there until about 11:30pm and then finally took off.  This put us in at the airport in Guyana at about 1:30am.  After clearing customs and immigration, I was in the taxi and on the way home. . . only to arrive at about 2:40am.  This of course after the Police stopped our taxi and accused him of having “tint” on the back windshield (He did not, and after about 3 or 4 minutes. . .they sent us on our way.)
Once again, another eventful trip.
But you know, this one was different in one big way!
After all the trouble I had on Saturday morning, I fully expected that things to go about they way they did.  So. . . I wasn’t upset, frustrated, or even unhappy.  Things went pretty much as I expected them to.
You know. . .sometimes in life, the “surprises” we face on the road are unexpected.  Other times, we meet obstacles that we KNOW are in front of us, so we are prepared to some degree when those problems come our way.  But obstacles are obstacles. . . and we have to figure a way around them, regardless of our knowledge of their presence.  
Just like the pothole in the road on our way to work each day. . .some obstacles are always there, and we can figure ways around them.
In our journey through life, we need to remember that the main obstacle out there is Satan.  He is ALWAYS looking to derail us, to throw us off our journey, or to just plain destroy us.  In fact, Peter warned us of this in I Peter 5:8-9. . .” Be Self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
Peter first warns us that Satan is like a Lion!  He is on the prowl, he is out there, and he is LOOKING FOR YOU!
Peter warns us as well to be alert, and in control of ourselves because Satan is looking to get you.  Not just to hurt you, but to devour you!  But we are warned of this, and told two things. . . .we must resist, and we must remember we are not alone.
This battle we have with Satan on our journey is not just our individual battle. . . but our COLLECTIVE battle.  ALL of us are involved in this battle, and must stand firm!  Satan likes for us to think that we are all alone in this struggle.  He knows that if we think we are alone, that we will try to deal with it alone, and it is easier for him to “pick us off”.  We need to remember that ALL of us struggle with Satan, and that struggle is sure.  We are NOT alone!  No matter how it feels at the time, our struggle is not unique.  Satan is trying to devour ALL of us!
Furthermore, I have seen many Christians who were utterly surprised with Satan’s attacks.  But we shouldn’t be.  We should expect him to come after us and we should expect him to try his best to cause us to lose our faith.  When we know the Lion is out there, we can be watchful. . . and ready for his attack.
I fully expected Liat to do nothing different than every time I have flown with them. . .and they did not disappoint me.  I was prepared for the delay, so when it happened. . . I wasn’t surprised.
We also need to fully expect Satan to come after us.  We should expect him to do his dead level best to shipwreck our faith.  And by knowing that, he does NOT catch us off guard.  Satan is an obstacle on the road that we KNOW will be there.  So be prepared for him, and don’t let him catch you off guard!
Be Watchful!  Be Prepared!  And don’t let him shipwreck YOUR faith!
See you on the Road!

STEVE

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