Providence
not just a city in Rhode Island
“The passenger connecting to London…lucky you…go to gate A4,” the flight attendant announced. She was filling time. We landed early in Charlotte, but that hadn’t turned into an advantage as we lingered on the tarmac. We could all see the gate, but for reasons unknown, we were inexplicably stuck. Therefore, I believe to kill some time and keep her passengers' minds occupied with something other than frustration, she worked her way through the entire passenger list and announced every gate for every connecting flight for every passenger on the plane who was transiting through and not staying in Charlotte.
When she came to my connection, she gave the added commentary, “Lucky you…” What she apparently didn’t know was London wasn’t my final destination. Nor did she realize that I wasn’t even supposed to be on her flight that afternoon. I wasn’t supposed to be sitting on a plane on the tarmac at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. I was supposed to be in Dallas.
That morning Monica drove me to the airport in Tulsa. We arrived a little earlier than I planned, but that was fine. When I approached the American Airlines counter, I was the lone customer. The young woman behind the counter immediately asked, “Charlotte?” When I replied, “No, Dallas,” a slight frown appeared on her face as she glanced down at the computer screen in front of her and then to her right where another agent stood nearby.
This tall, robust gentleman approached. “I can probably get you to Dallas, but there are weather and maintenance issues and my best guess is you will miss your flight to London if you go there. I might be able to get you to Charlotte instead and on a different flight to London where you will have plenty of time to catch the flight you booked to Hyderabad, India.
That is how I ended up on a plane on the tarmac at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Good thing too. I checked later and sure enough that flight from Tulsa was delayed so long that I would have never made it to London. I would have been stuck in Dallas trying to figure out how to get from A to B.
Lucky.
Lucky…I arrived at Tulsa International early because I barely had enough time to get my bookings reworked and get to the gate in time to board that flight to Charlotte. 15 minutes later and that wouldn’t have been an option.
Lucky…That flight was pretty full, but somehow there was a seat still available for me.
Lucky…We got off that plane in Charlotte in time for me to barely make it to the gate for the flight to London. And, oh yeah, bonus…they put me in the Premium Economy section. It’s not first class, but it is a far sight better than the cheap seats that are my regular roosting grounds.
Lucky…A ticketing agent was standing there in Tulsa that morning that cared enough about my travel needs that he told me the real scoop and put in the effort to get me where I needed to be to keep my plans on track. He didn’t have to do that. I wouldn’t have ever known there was another option available.
Here’s the thing….I don’t believe in luck. To be clear, I don’t get upset if someone uses the word. I use it sometimes. But if you want to know the truth about how I see what happened, it wasn’t luck. I believe in God, a God who is sovereign, who knows and cares about all the details of our lives and is able somehow to work all things for good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes.
Providence is a good word to use to describe what I believe about these things. I usually spell Providence with an upper case “P” because it can be, in a sense, used as a name of God. When I say Providence I am not talking about fatalism. I am talking about a personal God who orders life according to His wise purposes.
Providence is a word that acknowledges that all the details, the roadblocks, the detours, the helpful gate agents, and the unplanned early arrivals at an airport where flights with available seats to get me where I need to go are all planned and prepared by God. Providence is the invisible hand of God that becomes visible in the circumstances and happenstances of life. The luck we stumble into is really the Lord working out His will and purposes.
That is not to suggest that all Providence is pleasant. There are “dark Providences” as well. If it had been that I had missed my flight, or been stuck in Dallas at DFW, or been sitting between two large men in a middle seat in economy class for nine hours it would also be Providence. That job we wanted and didn’t get is Providence. That nail that somehow found our tire and delayed our schedule is Providence.
For me, knowing and believing this has helped me become a more patient person. I have been able, to some degree, to stop my frantic pushing against Providence, demanding my plans are supreme and my schedule be the one that is always honored.
I thank God for his “good” Providences. I also thank Him for those “dark” Providences. I know that He is in control. He is guiding it all. He is in the details. He is with me when I glide along easily and when I struggle to get over a difficult hill. Praise be to His name.
Lucky me.
Lucky you.
