It was supposed to be the smoothest of flights. We boarded the plane at Newark’s Liberty Airport in nearrecord time. Every passenger was on board and in their seats ahead of schedule. Though there was a take-off queue on the tarmac, we were airborne within minutes our target, and it wasn’t long before the captain came over the intercom and gave us the news we all longed to hear: “We expect to touch down in Tampa at about 7:03, 20 minutes ahead of schedule.” I think I actually heard applause as I donned my headphones. A 2.5-hour flight from Newark to Tampa? Yes please!

There was light turbulence, to be sure, here and there, but the first 90-plus minutes were mainly smooth sailing. I texted my wife (yes, you can do that now, and it’s FREE!) to tell her I’d be in town earlier than expected, and then I saw it. The ray of sun that had been resting on my right arm was suddenly creeping across my body. We were turning!

Now minor course corrections are nothing new on flights, but this was an actual TURN – and then the captain’s voice broke through my pondering of the sunshine: “Ladies and gentlemen, Tampa has suspended all incoming traffic and placed us in a holding pattern due to weather in the area. We expect it to be just a few minutes and we’ll be on our way again.”

True to his announcement, the plane resumed course just minutes later, but our relief was short-lived. Within 10 minutes we again turned off course, this time circling for more than 50 minutes. “There is lightning striking on the field. (That’s pilot-speak for “lighting is hitting the tarmac of the airport we’re flying to). We haven’t been given a time frame for landing.” And so it went; around and around, going nowhere at 500 miles per hour.

Life is like that sometimes, isn’t it? You’re making great time, but you’re not going anywhere. Here’s the thing, though: our pilot could have ignored the warning and gotten us to the destination, and in so doing flown us right into disaster. For us, delay was inconvenient, but it kept us safe. I can recount many times in my life when I was frustrated because “things” like my career or my ministry weren’t moving forward as quickly as I wanted. It was frustrating and inconvenient, to be sure, but here’s what I know. My Heavenly Father has perfect timing, and what seemed like a frustrating delay for me was, in fact, Him keeping me from flying straight into disaster.

How about you? What were your life-flight delays like? Let me know in the comments.

Until the next turn,

Gordon