Wednesday, December 31, 2014
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My flight was scheduled to leave Newark Airport at 2:30 in the afternoon. There was bad weather at my destination, so they said we were postponed until 4:30. Then, "We have no idea when we'll be able to leave." Then they said, "We think we'll go at 5:30." Finally we did leave at 6:00. Of course that gave us lots of time to memorize the menu at the airport restaurant, which didn't take long, to check out the restroom several times, buy lots of magazines, and count the designs in the carpet. In the meantime another flight had been cancelled and some of those passengers were put on my flight. So this was one very full plane.
As the passengers were boarding with their carry-on luggage, the word came from the cockpit, the pilot, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are number two for take-off. We've been assigned that position, but we only have 20 minutes to load this plane and take off. So would you please be seated as quickly as you can, wherever you can?"
Well, everyone knew we couldn't take off until the cockpit knew everybody was seated. It was chaos! People were trying to board the plane, the captain was "pushing" them verbally, and the flight attendants were pushing them physically. Soon they were saying, "We've got to go! We're going to lose our spot and we'll have to wait longer." And the pilot came on again and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I know we kept delaying this flight. You had to wait and wait. And then now we are telling you, "Hurry! Hurry!" We had waited for four hours and then suddenly we had immediate clearance and everything was a rush.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Miracle Rush."
That takes us to our word for today from the Word of God from Exodus 12, which is where the Jews are spending their last night as slaves in Egypt. They've been through a long process of waiting as God recruited Moses to be their deliverer. Then He dealt with Pharaoh. Then they endured ten plagues. Things got worse before they got better.
They're at the night of Passover where they applied blood to their doorposts. As the angel comes through, the firstborns of Egypt died while the Jewish firstborns are protected. In verse 11 they're getting ready to go to bed that night. Here are their instructions about the Passover Dinner. "This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak
tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord's Passover."
Now, they really did need to get ready quickly because when the Lord moves it happens fast. Verse 33 says, "The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. So the people took the dough before the yeast was added, carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing." This is like the night I had at the airport, a long wait, then the big rush.
There's insight here into what God might be doing in your life right now. He works quietly, often invisibly, methodically, and holistically. Meanwhile, we're getting that panicky feeling that we're never going to take off. Our flight will never get where we need to go. But when God has everything ready and you ready for it, fasten your seatbelt. Get to your seat quickly. The answer will come so quickly there won't even be time for the bread to rise.
You might think you're running out of time for an answer, but when God moves it doesn't take much time. Remember your ketchup bottle? You hit it on the end several times – nothing comes out. Then, all of a sudden a lot comes out. Well, that's how God works. It might take you a long time to get it done. But God could do it in an hour. It might take you fifty years. It doesn't take Him any time, so don't panic just because it's taking longer than you thought.
The answer you're praying for may be about a relationship, finances, or your health, or a child, or a decision. Don't let the wait make you give up or push for your own impatient, probably messed up solution. The flight may be delayed, but it will go when your captain knows everything is ready on your end and on the other end.
Get ready for the miracle rush when your captain says, "We have immediate clearance. We're taking off."