The following is a story I wrote to inspire those who need a word from the Lord to sustain them when everything around them says they are in trouble. I hope it inspires you:
One time as I was on my way to Spain, I was placed in a bad situation by the airlines in New York City. As I waited in the airport, I could see on the news that a hurricane was coming, and things were worse than originally stated. I went to the desk and told them I was not comfortable going to Miami. Could I do something else? The airport people said I could still fly, and it would be just fine, but I knew I was headed for trouble. I tried to get out of it several times, but they assured me everything was fine. They said that my flight would be waiting for me and that I would be out before the storm came.
When I arrived, not only was my connecting flight to Spain not there, but most flights out of Miami were cancelled. I was told that I would have to wait for two or three days in a school being used for shelter. I didn’t want to do this. I called my wife, Heather, and told her there was a hurricane heading right for us, and they wouldn’t let me fly. She said she would pray about it and call me back. When she did, she said, “No, you’re going to fly tonight.”
When I heard those words, my heart came alive. I said, “Thank You, Jesus!” Then I talked to the airline people. They said no way, that there wasn’t a plane for me and that I needed to go to a shelter. As I looked around the airport, it was crazy. People were fighting, some were in shock, others were crying, and some just seemed to be sitting it out. It was a very confusing time. I got in a line and waited for about three hours.
Finally, I was the next in line to go to the counter. The attendant asked me to step aside, “You’re not going anywhere tonight.” He made me step aside and let all the people behind me go ahead. There were two women going to Santiago on a ski trip, and I had been in line with them. I was praying for them but hadn’t gotten a chance to witness to them. When they saw me pushed aside, they came over and asked me what had happened. I told them the man wouldn’t let me in. These women weren’t believers, but one looked me in the eye and said: “You’re going to fly tonight.”
I could hear Jesus speaking to me. The fear left; the tiredness was gone. The attendant came back, and I told him I needed to fly tonight. He said there was no possibility. I said there had to be a way. He agreed to give me five minutes at the counter to see for myself. I went to a ticket counter, and the woman said there was no possibility. I said there was. I told her that I had tickets to Santiago for later in the month for when I came back from Spain. “Can I use the ticket now?” I asked her.
She did not even look at me. She looked at the screen and typed all the while and then said all she could do was give me standby on a flight to Santiago that was about to leave. There were about forty people ahead of me.
I told her I would take standby. And after a mad dash through security, I arrived at my gate. They had me wait until everyone else had boarded. The attendant said there were only two people ahead of me now. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I heard the attendant say, “Mr. Clark, you can board now.”
I’d been traveling all day, waiting for hours in two airports. I felt my Father encouraging me not to be afraid. As my plane lifted off, I could hardly believe I had left that mess behind.
I checked the news online from Santiago and learned that many people had been put in schools for several days. Part of the roof blew off one of the schools, and the people had to go back to the airport.
