Phoneless in Frisco, part 3

I finished part 2 of "Phoneless in Frisco" while waiting to fly home in the San Francisco airport. I saved my work, then closed my laptop and walked to the airline desk. My flight had been delayed and I needed to call home to tell them to pick me up late. Of course, I had forgotten my phone, so I needed to go ask the airline clerk for a phone to use.

The man working at the desk didn't seem pleased that I needed to use a phone. he told me to wait a moment and then proceeded to text text someone for a few minutes on his own cell phone. What he was doing felt a little rude, but I wasn't in a mood to do anything about it, I just waited. Behind me a man asks "What's happening? What's he doing?" I told him that our flight had been delayed. He asked what I was waiting in line for still then. I explained that I had forgotten my phone and that I needed to make a quick call home. The man, Gary, looked again at the clerk behind the airline desk and said "Forget about him, here, use my phone! Come on, let's go get some food too."

I had just gotten done writing that I had a problem talking to strangers and seconds later the Lord puts a stranger right in my face. I asked him for help and Gary helped, it didn't hurt my pride at all. It was the Lord telling me that I'm not too badly broken, but that I've had my blinders on a little too long. The Lord used this phoneless trip to show me all of the distractions in my live and that I seem to have lost some important skills needed for living.

By not having my phone on this trip, I had the opportunity to ask Gary for help. Not only that, but he and I talked for 3 more hours in the airport and sat next to each other on the flight home. He was a prodigal believer who had left the Lord a long time ago. He was flying home to see his christian brother and mother and to bury an uncle. He was ripe and ready for me to talk about Jesus. I would have missed the whole chance to do this, had I used my own phone to call home. Gary and I bonded quickly and I spent our time together telling him that God loves him. He looked like he needed to hear it and I was grateful to be able to say it.

I was so upset when I first realized that I had left my phone in the car, but God had a plan and a purpose. I need to learn how to provide opportunities for the Word of God to dwell in me and to conform me to his image. I need to learn that when adversity comes (if it's fair to call forgetting your phone adversity) I need to have peace and be thankful. Ultimately I think that's what I did, I prayed, memorized scripture, and I shared the love of God with a stranger.

Read Colossians 3:15-17:

3:15 Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God. 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Be ready to trust God in adversity, knowing that He has a purpose. His plan for your 3 days in San Francisco is better than your plan. Get rid of the distractions in your life and keep your eyes open for the chance to tell someone else how thankful you are for Jesus and for what he's done and what he's doing for you.