Heathrow Here I Come

Welcome back John and Linda! They safely touched down at Heathrow yesterday evening and I went to collect them after their extremely long journey back from New Zealand. It was great to see them and they both had a truly wonderful time out there and have come back refreshed and raring to go despite having 12 hours of jet lag to negotiate and 36 hours of non-stop travel under their belts. It took some time for them to get off the plane (it was one of those huge, 500-seater, double-decker jobs), get through immigration and collect their luggage so I was waiting for a while in the Arrivals Lounge before they came through. I carefully positioned myself so I had a good view of all the people streaming through the Arrivals Doors, being greeted by family and friends. In the hour I was there, I must have seen literally hundreds of people came through those doors. The Lord began to speak to me about a few things as I witnessed all this going on...

1. He Is THE Lord There must have been dozens of nationalities ranging from countries all across the globe. Heathrow is a truly international airport as evidenced by the numbers of different languages I heard in that time. We can lose our perspective on the sheer size and magnitude of God's Holy Reign and Power so quickly can't we? Don't forget that when it says Jesus is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings (Revelation 19:16), that means He rules over ALL these different tribes and nations. I only knew TWO people there: John and Linda, but God knew every single person there, intimately: He knew their lives, their names, where they had come from, where they were going and everything in between (Psalm 139:1-24).

2. The Joy of Meeting On a couple of occasions some of the travellers were parents or grandparents who had been away for a while. I watched one set of Grandparents as they came through the doors. Two very excited, smiling Grandchildren came running up the concourse and pounced on them, showering them with daffodils, hugs, kisses and smiles. There is a tremendous, infectious joy in being with people who are important to you. I love the fact that Moses was a man who regularly met with a Holy God; a consuming fire sat on top of a mountain with flames of His glory enshrouding this little Hebrew YET God drew near. I think Moses feared God but in his desire to develop this intimate relationship, he put a smile on the face of God as well. Do you run to meet God? Do you feel that joy at meeting His Majesty once again?

3. Wait I'm not very good at waiting. In fact, I'm pretty bad at it. My Mum always used to say that I was like 'a bull in a china shop' and I can charge into things without stopping and waiting for the best moment. Sometimes this can be a good thing as it means I can drive things forward and create a forward sense of momentum and direction. However, most of the time it can cause problems. One of the fruits of being a follower of Jesus is patience (Psalm 40:1, Galatians 5:22). As I waited at Heathrow last night God made me wait. I was aware of His Presence. I started to pray and met with the Lord. I began to override my flesh and tapped into the Spirit.

Thankfully, you don't need to drive to Heathrow and hang around in the Arrivals' Lounge for a while to experience all of the above. Instead, take a few minutes today to reflect on what I've written, see what stands out for you, give it to the Lord and let Him have His way.

Have an awesome weekend!