My sister and I had taken a quick weekend trip out to California to visit our brother, his wife and their new daughter. It was a fun weekend – but once we started the trip home we were both just ready to be home.
Have you ever felt like that when traveling?
On each portion of the trip there were “concerns”, potential delays. Knowing how we both needed to make it home that day, I just kept praying that God would be in the details….no delays, no lost luggage etc.
And while both flights took off late, both flights arrived early, no luggage was lost….but on our flight into Sioux Falls we were heading into heavy fog. It wasn’t until we landed safely that we found out we had been the only flight to land that day…all other flights had been re-routed or cancelled.
Yes God had been in the details that day. But isn’t He every day?
When we were coming in Beth and I talked about how the pilots navigate in thick fog like that….that they have to rely on the plane’s autopilot system to keep the plane in the right flying position. (Forgive my non technical FAA lingo here) 🙂
And it got me to thinking….who is the autopilot in my life?
I think that, when I am willing to give up the reins, God is that autopilot. Many times I have been in a thick fog….unsure where to go, what the best choice is….and especially during those times I need to trust in God’s plan for my life and ask for His guidance.
Ultimately He knows the direction He has set out for me. I can trust that…or I can take over, divert my “plane” so to speak and take an alternate route. Unfortunately I have multiple examples in my life when I have thought that I knew best, or I was too scared to trust in the unknown….and in the end I paid the price for my choices.
Since Dominic started his own business we have always felt the whole situation was blessed….things happened, outside of our “control” for the good…and we could only sit back, shake our heads in amazement, and thank God for all of it.
In the past couple of months it became apparent that he could no longer handle the workload on his own, and he asked me if I would come and work with him. Leaving the “comforts” of my current job left me in fear. I prayed and prayed about it….felt God’s leading, but just couldn’t fully trust His plan. So I decided to “control” the situation and set to trying to manage both jobs, each part time.
Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed by your own doing?
This is where I found myself….trying to do my best in both positions…and constantly feeling under stress because it wasn’t possible to get all the work done that was there. And having too-high of expectations for myself that I should be able to get it all done.
It was no ones fault but my own really. And I knew it. And then I got sick (turns out I have a stomach ulcer) and I realized that I was “wearing” the physical stress from my choices.
And in that moment, when I felt I was flying in a fog, it was as if the fog lifted. I knew what I had to do. And while the decision is still scary for me….I recognize that it IS God’s plan for my life.
This week I made the decision to leave my job with the guaranteed monthly pay and work full time with Dominic. Never in our marriage have we been in this situation….where we are relying on one salary to support our family. It is new territory for us, but it is exciting!
I believe that God had this plan all along. In our almost 17 years of marriage we have faced some amazing trials. We have been through terrible heartache and almost given up on each other…
The fact that we will now be working together, side by side, to grow what is now a family business is just proof of God’s miracles working in our lives.
The “unknown” can feel like a scary place – but it doesn’t have to be when we place our trust in our one true autopilot.
God is there in the known and the unknown. It is our decision on how we will “respond” to His leading. What do you find yourself facing today? Are you trusting God with the details? He IS there….lean into that truth today and fly!
