....You can always Pray
A lesson on helping others in situtations when you tangibly can't
I have a horrid, wretched condition. I want to help EVERYONE. I want to make their sadness go away. I want to dissolve their pain. I want help. I want to serve.
Sometimes, due to situations completely out of our control, this is absolutely impossible to do. It's in times like these my heart breaks and it make me so angry. I fell so utterly helpless, useless, defeated and in a heart that is satisfied by helping others, this feeling is the worst.
This past week I found myself in this exact situation.
I was on a flight from Alexandria, LA (Shoutout to the best friend Shira! We had a blast and a half!). The flight would land in Dallas where everyone would head in numerous directions to catch their connections to places all over the world. Our flight left Alexandria a few minutes later than expected which created an issue for those that had minimal flight layovers to begin with.
Upon landing in Dallas, I start to hear the cries of worry from the affected passengers
"I've got 20 minutes..."
"I only have 10 minutes"
"My flight is boarding right now!"
The plane wasn't even pulled up to the terminal all the way yet. We still had to unload! Oh how I wish that I could have stopped time to allow all of these passengers to get to their connecting flights. That, however, was not a possibility.
In my urge to want to help, and not being able to, my anxiety started to grow. I was trying to think of SOMETHING, ANTYHING I could do to help! I started looking on my American Airline app for the destinations I was hearing - Las Vegas - Los Angeles - Others I can't remember. I was hoping to find delays so I could tell these people and their minds would rest and be at ease.
Everything, of course, was running perfectly on time.
I was at a loss. As we started to deboard the plane, I sat in my chair, defeated, and let those that needed to quickly get to their connecting terminal go before me. It was the least I could do.
As they got off the plane I was not too far behind them. I could see them, as soon as they got out of the tight confines of the airplane, they grasped their belongings tight and started to run. My heart still hurting....a soft whisper came across my heart...
Pray....
When you can do nothing else... you can always...
Pray....
So I did. I prayed that they would make their connections, and if not that they would reach their dstinations in ample time for whatever their purpose was for traveling there.
And peace came.
I'll never know the outcome. Whether they made it or not.
But what I do know, is that although some things are out of our control, disease, suffering, job loss, whatever it might be, there is ehelpful tool that is never out of our reach. That's praying. Asking our God to intervene on our behalfs.
And in my opinion, that's probably the most helpful tool anyway.
