Racing through the Atlanta airport, I could feel my feet pounding the floor as my husband and I ran to catch our flight.  Up the gangway, through the terminal, and down the escalator.  As we neared the gate, two young guys joined us in their own sprint to the check-in.

Silence greeted us all.  The clocks reading a full eleven minutes before the plane’s listed departure time, we were shocked to find the door to the gangway closed and the seating area empty.  The plane had already pushed back from the gate and was now preparing for its taxi down the runway.  We were too late.

When my husband and I arrived at the airline service desk, we looked at the line ahead of us and followed the directions listed on the sign.  Scanning our tickets, we were discouraged to see the machine neatly print hotel and meal vouchers as well as a confirmation for our seats on the next outgoing flight to Augusta. The next day.

Though frustrated, especially since we had been at the gate before plane’s listed departure, we realized the futility of getting angry.  Unable to get any different resolution from the airline’s service staff, we decided to check on renting a car to make the two hour drive home.

Weighing our options, we remembered the two young men who had arrived late to the gate at the same time we had.  We typically do not make it a habit of picking up strangers, especially for a two hour drive.  However, we sensed both peace and purpose in offering them a ride.  Anxious to get home, they readily accepted.

A chunk of change later, we were headed to Augusta, GA in a white Ford Focus–eight feet brought together in the most unusual of circumstances.  What had been a great frustration and inconvenience for us became an opportunity for the Lord to make His love and provision real to two young men. Things in life often don’t go the way we planned, and yet in our human frailty we continue to live as if they should.  As believers, though, these interruptions can become opportunities to see the vastness of God.  He lovingly reaches from heaven through our well-timed schedules to remind us He is the God who set the sun and moon in place.

Romans 11:33 says, “Oh, what a wonderful God we have!  How great are his reaches and wisdom and knowledge!  How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his methods!”  When things don’t go as planned, we can either become frustrated and angry, or we can choose to let the Lord work through all things (Proverbs 20:24). While we could have measured our experience in terms of time and money, the Lord reminded us: what price can be put on the value of a soul?