March 30, 2019, 11:10 pm. That was supposed to be my flight. Due to some unforeseen delays, I was still on the road stuck in traffic 1.5 hours before. The driver seemed to intentionally drive slow despite telling him to hurry up.
I reached the check-in counter at 10:05 pm yet the delays for my flight were far from over.
Suddenly, one airline staff approached me and asked, “Would you be okay if we will just rebook your ticket tomorrow morning at 7?” Without even letting her finish I said “No! Of course, I am not okay with that!” Then she continued, “We are experiencing a problem of over passenger and we are looking for someone who will voluntary accept delays on their flights; we will compensate it with another roundtrip ticket.” Without a proper thought process, I repeated myself “No. I want to go now.”
Are you like me too – always in a hurry that we don’t even see the blessings in front of us? People as we are, we sometimes focus on the closed door without even realizing that there are many open doors around us.
But like how God never gave up on me whenever I say “NO” to His plan, the airline staff came to me again after seeing I already calmed down. She again asked, “are you sure you don’t want to accept our offer?” That time, I was able to think clearly and realized that “it’s a freakin’ FREE roundtrip ticket on Emirates Airlines!”
I came back to my senses and accepted it. Even though it made me feel anxious because I was expected to report to work the next day. Instead, my return will have to wait by another day.
Wait there’s more! Since I am staying overnight, they booked and drove me to a hotel nearby for a free bed and breakfast stay.
The following day, I reported back to work worried about what my boss would say. But he told me not to worry because he understands that delays happen and it’s normal. In fact, he had a similar experience too.
Delays can really become frustrating, right? But let me tell you what I learned…
First, we have to accept that ‘delays’ are part of life. The reason why it is called ‘delay’ is that there could be something happening beyond our control. I know it’s not easy to keep calm when we experience a delay. But if you would just learn to breathe and surrender then probably the outcome may be different.
In every delay, He is teaching us 3 things; the power of TRUST, the power of SURRENDER & the power of PATIENCE.
Second, trust that He knew better (Jeremiah 29:11) and probably if you would just calm down and hear Him, you will see the bigger picture why a certain delay is happening into your life now.
Third, He got your back. Probably like how worried I was because I returned late at work – you are also experiencing some anxiousness now because of the delays you are in. But hey, God’s got your back. If He puts you on delays, remember that it is for His greater purpose.
Lastly, while delays don’t really bring a comforting feeling, try to recognize that something even better than we could ever imagine is waiting as a reward.
Your blessings might be just around the corner, don’t forget to claim it! (I claim mine by using my free round trip ticket going to my dream destination, Maldives.)
