These events took place in an airport lounge area. My husband has more air miles accumulated than you could imagine. And because I’m his wife, I have some access to some of his perks. One advantage is that I can relax and snack at the airline lounges in various airports.
This particular moment began at 6:20 a.m. As I approached the line up, there were about twenty-five people ahead of me waiting for the lounge to open for the day. At first, I couldn’t understand why the crowd, then realized that the club doesn’t open their doors until 6:30.
At 6:30 a.m. sharp, a well-dressed employee opened the doors to the entry. My fellow travelers all sauntered in what seemed at lightening speed. The “first-in-line” customer walked right past the elevator to a side door. He seemed in a real hurry and; as he proceeded through the door, the rest of his “follow-suit clients” were right behind him.
This scene seemed odd to me because the elevator was right there and empty. There was only one floor “up” to the Maple Leaf Lounge, but no one seemed interested in taking the fifteen-second trip in the comfort of the elevator.
I was towards the end of the line and I “assumed” the front guy knew what he was doing by avoiding the elevator and walking up some twenty-six plus steps. Maybe he knew the elevator wasn’t working?
So, just like the rest of the travel gang, I took the stairs like everyone else. Some were huffing and puffing at that early time of the morning in their climb; but I just couldn’t figure out why no one took the “convenient elevator.”
After about forty minutes, I needed to proceed to the gate for my outgoing flight. The lingering “elevator dilemma” was still fresh on my mind. So, I stopped to ask the receptionist/agent if the elevator wasn’t in operation this morning. She stated it was in perfect working order. You can guess my next question. I inquired as to why she thought all the people didn’t use the elevator, but climbed up all those stairs.
She laughed out loud and suggested that the first person in line probably thought that he’d arrive faster than all the others if he ran up the stairs. And, so you can now see the Biblical illustration in the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, verse 6.
“We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way…”
If you know anything about sheep, they aren’t the brightest animals in the pasture. Actually, they’re really stupid. If one sheep decides to walk over a cliff, the sheep behind him moves in the same direction….regardless of the consequences.
I’m laughing right now as I think of the scene. All of us in line were all “thinking and rationing adults,” and we couldn’t miss the fact of the glaring elevator that was there for our convenience.
I was probably sheep #25 in the line-up, and yes, I knew that the elevator was there for our ease of entering the club, just one short flight upward. But did I stop and THINK? NO, I made as assumption that the first man knew the best route to upstairs. I was WRONG!
After my conversation with the receptionist/agent, I laughed all the way to my departing gate. I too followed the “front man” thinking he knew best.
I can’t help but wonder: if you were behind me, what route would you have taken?
Published by Dianne Horne
I can’t think of anything I enjoy more than to see lives changed! There’s nothing more that puts “oxygen and joy” into my life than to bring the application of Scripture into the “shoe leather” of our lives and to share it with others.
I feel awkward speaking about myself, but I understand it can be helpful to enable others to relate to and enjoy the work of our Lord does in other people. Another down-to-earth way of sharing who I am, is that I love to eat, laugh and to talk about the Lord. I’m not a very exciting individual, but my Savior sure is!
I’ve been happily married for many years, and I now reside in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. God has transplanted my husband and I 28 times in our years together; and it is only when in His presence that you can ask the “why questions” as to the adjustments He’s brought us “to” and “through” in the numerous locations and countries we have lived.
God’s care, love, forgiveness, faithfulness and moment-by-moment presence has not only carried me (when I had every reason to fall apart), but lifted me to a joy I’ve never known. There’s one thing to have joy when things are going great, and quite another dimension of joy and peace when everything in your world is crumbling and unknown. Most of our lives will appear like “ordinary oatmeal living”, but when we allow Him to “establish our steps”, He alone takes our mundane acts of kindness or aid and makes them “extraordinary” for His purpose in the lives of others.
The seasons of caring for my parents and the associated grieving process has forever changed me. It was my honor, joy and privilege to participate with my Lord in what He was accomplishing in their lives, as they both gave their lives to Jesus Christ just days before they were escorted into His presence in heaven. The medical challenges and decisions that needed to be made for a number of those years thrust me into a trust and dependence upon the Lord that I had never known up to that point in my life.
In my journey, I’ve come to realize that our “weakness” is our greatest “strength”, because real power, provision, and His purpose being carried out in and through our lives, depends on Him orchestrating such through His sovereignty.
My “heartbeat of fulfillment” lies in sharing with women, in various settings, helping them to enjoy, study and apply the principles of God’s Word in a down-to-earth fashion. I thrive interacting with women and encouraging them to put their trust in the One Who knows them best and loves them extravagantly; and to prioritize “spending time alone with God each day” developing their relationship with Him. Our lives aren’t designed to just get answers to prayer….but to know and love a very personal Savior, and to surrender daily to “His plans, His agenda and purpose” for our lives.
Several years ago I was challenged to respond to a critical question I had never considered: Why do you exist? What’s your purpose in life?
I live to bring an expression of God in the ordinary events of life, seizing every opportunity of serving and delighting in others. I want my life to be an infectious expression of His love for others, and for them to know how special “they are” to Him; and thus be contagious with His grace.
My life compass is: After people spend time with me, what do they think of Jesus Christ?
The stories that will appear in my blog, are true events that have taken place in my journey. They’re all “very ordinary” circumstances that have occurred through sharing them with Jesus and watching Him orchestrate and demonstrate what He can do when we yield “our ordinary” to the Extraordinary One.
View more posts
Cups of Cold Water 