Dear Family and Friends,

If you’ve ever flown to Japan you know that it takes a lot of patience to survive the long flight, especially in the winter.

Most of my trips are now a blur except for one memorable winter flight to Narita. As we neared the coast and prepared for landing, I recall glancing at the flight map, telling myself, ‘Great, we’ll be early. Plenty of time to make my dinner appointment.’

A few minutes later, I felt the plane banking into a turn. Having made this trip many times I asked myself, ‘Hmmm, isn’t it a bit too early to turn?’

Then I watched the monitor with curiosity as the plane started to fly in a huge circle off the coast. Then another circle. Then another. Our flight path began to look like Moses’ 40 year journey to the Promised Land. I began to wonder, ‘Maybe I need to push dinner back?’

When our plane was redirected and landed at Haneda Airport, I was ecstatic. ‘Whew, I’m even closer to town. Making dinner will be no problem!’

That was until the captain announced that because Haneda could only receive domestic passengers (this was awhile ago), we have to fly back to Narita to clear customs and immigration. And, he continued, it will take awhile as we are seventh in line to refuel.

As we sat on the tarmac for what seemed like an eternity, the song So Close Yet So Far playing in my head, we watched as the smallest tanker in the world fueled one plane at a time – disappearing after fueling each plane to refuel itself. I began to wonder if it was possible to survive jumping to the ground from the doorway of a 747.

Dear friends, we are all in a plane that just won’t land. Our desired destination – normalcy – is nowhere in sight. The months following the vaccine rollout gave us hope. We saw the airstrip and thought we would soon land. Then our plane started to bank and turn.

Today, we find ourselves in yet another holding pattern. Our confidence is waning as we wonder if boosters will really work. We wonder if the number of variants will exceed the letters in the alphabet.

Have you noticed that besides our shaken confidence, something else is beginning to wane – our patience?

We have all read the many Bible verses telling us to be patient. Such as, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” Psalms 37:7 NIV

But may I share this: being patient and waiting for Him does not mean we continue to remain still.

God’s work is not done. The truth is, we are witnessing behavior that was unthinkable just a year ago.

While Christ followers have sat isolated from each other over the past year and a half, the world has shifted even further away from God. There is a battle over souls taking place and we’ve been sitting on the sidelines. 

John 3 tells us God so loved the world. Conversely, Satan wants people to doubt God’s love and blame Him for the virus. Many are.

James 4 says to draw near to God, and he will draw near to us. Conversely, Satan wants people to turn and walk away from God and the Church. Many have.

Romans 12 says to love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Conversely, Satan wants people to hate and put each other down. Many do. 

In Genesis 2 the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” Conversely, Satan wants to isolate people from each other. We are.

Romans 15 says God will fill us with joy and peace as we trust in him. Conversely, Satan wants to steal everyone’s joy and peace. Many are depressed. 

Psalm 118 says “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Conversely, Satan wants people to die before coming to know Jesus.

Dear friends, we are in a fight for lives. Not for our lives as our place in Heaven is secure, but for the lives of the deceived and lost.

Many of us were doing our part to advance God’s Kingdom before this pandemic forced us to stop. We have patiently waited for normalcy to return.

Unfortunately, no one (other than God) knows when normalcy will return, if it will at all.

Over the years, God has given me new assignments as my seasons changed. Do you notice He did the same for you?

Well, we are in a new season folks. God likely has a new assignment for each one of us in such a time as this.

Let’s be still before the Lord this week, and wait patiently for Him to answer this question – ‘Lord, do You have a new assignment for me?’

Perhaps He will ask that we reassure someone of His love. Or encourage others to run to Him, not away from Him. Or be an example to others by letting our speech always be gracious. Or befriend someone who’s lonely and isolated. Or help restore a brother or sister’s joy and peace. 

Once God has spoken, let’s do our part to overcome the works of satan until that time when God reveals His grand restoration plan. Let’s make someone’s day better than it was yesterday. 

On another flight to Japan I happened to sit next to the head of United’s aircraft maintenance unit at Narita.

He told of how the airport authorities called a meeting shortly after that incident, carried in the piece of the aircraft that fell off and shut down the runway, and in a very non-Japanese way, chewed out the rep of the guilty carrier.

The carrier that prevented us from landing that day was coincidentally named Delta. 

In love always,