My Bag Was Too Heavy to Fly

This morning we rushed through an hour of traveling in a sleet storm to get to the airport on time to catch our flight home from Maine to Florida.  For those of you who may not know, we were in Maine visiting our son who is in the final stages of cancer.  We really didn't want to leave him, but after much prayer and discussion we decided to head home to take care of some loose ends there and then plan to head back to be with him again soon.

Anyway, the first thing we had to do when we arrived at the airport was check in with our baggage and get our boarding passes.  When I put the suitcase that we were planning to check up on the scale, it was about one pound over the limit of 40 pounds.  The attendant said I would need to remove at least a pound from the bag before they could check it onto the plane.  So I opened it up and tried to determine what I could remove that would weigh about a pound that I could carry with me in my carry-on bag.

My first thought was that perhaps I should remove the package of frozen blueberries that my daughter-in-law had given me from their own blueberry bushes, but I wasn't sure if they would allow me to take them with me as a carry-on.  While my husband took the package of blueberries to ask the TSA officer for permission, my eyes were directed to my Bible in the suitcase and I took it out and placed it on the scale.  It was exactly the weight that needed to be removed from the bag to make it the legal limit.  When my husband came back I told him we'd just put the blueberries back in and I would carry my Bible with me instead.

Our flight was delayed for a little while, so we had time to sit and catch our breath before we had to board the plane.  While we were waiting, I decided to open my Bible that was now in my carry-on bag instead of on the plane and read the devotional readings for today.  The reading for today was entitled "Acknowledging the Miracle", and the selected scripture readings were from John 4:43-54 and Psalm 30.

As I started to read the scriptures I was overwhelmed with the message of hope and comfort that God had waiting for me there. Let me see if you can understand what I mean.

"So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  

And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.

When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, 

he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son,

for he was at the point of death.

Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders,

you will by no means believe."

The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"

Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."

So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him,

and he went his way."

(John 4:46-50)

I cannot begin to tell you what comfort and peace these words brought to me today as we prepared to head home not knowing for certain if our son would live until we could come back to be with him again.  I had tossed and turned and cried in my sleep for several days over the decision to stay or return home. Once we finally made the decision to go ahead and return home, God provided me with this wonderful assurance that our son would live, and that I could travel in peace.  

Now, I must confess to you that I do not know if this means that he is truly healed from this disease, or if this is merely God's way of bringing comfort and peace to us so that we can take care of our personal matters at home and trust that our son will still be alive and waiting for us when we are able to return. Of course, I would love to believe that he is completely healed and that he will not suffer from this devastating illness any longer and that he will be able to grow old with his wife and watch his fourteen year old son grow up to be a man and someday have grandchildren of his own to dandle on his knee. 

I find myself identifying with another parent in the book of Mark 9:23-24, when Jesus asks this father of a young son who had an unclean spirit, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." And the Bible says in verse 24 'Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 

"Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!"

Lord, I do believe.  I know You are able to do "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think..." (Ephesians 3:20)

Whether You have chosen to heal our son completely to live a full and healthy life here on earth, or whether You have chosen to give him more time so that we can have the assurance we needed to make this trip home for now, I give You praise.  I will praise You along with the Psalmist in Psalm 30, (the other reading selected especially for today)...

"Oh Lord my God, I cried out to You,

and You healed me."

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever."

Psalm 30: 2, 11-12

Either way, I give thanks to You today, dear Lord.

Amen.

Oh, and Lord, Thank You that my bag was too heavy to fly today.

I got Your message just in time.

Oh, and by the way,  the blueberries made it just fine! I can't wait to make some blueberry muffins or pancakes with them!