“Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?…”
As I was landing in L. A. at 11:00 last night, I looked at the stars above me; I looked at the blinking light of the wing beside me; I looked at the mass of city glow beneath me, and…I thought of this song. It wasn’t just the song; it was a dream I had since I was a child. As a preschooler, I remember looking out my bedroom window, and I saw the stars and the moon. By an unseen hand and a whisper blowing through it, I was drawn into the Presence of the Lord. It was quiet, peaceful, in my mind, to be up there. Up there…with… There was something moving, blinking–an airplane, way up in the atmosphere, which had the privilege of giving people a tour of the cosmos. Like a pocket of glory, a quiet, personal tour of the stars while gliding near them. To me it seemed that to be up there in the night sky would be to be near God. One day, I hoped it would be me, but who knew how to get up there? I was so small…
Last night I landed in the dark for which number I can no longer remember. But because of it, I’m reminded to thank God and be in awe of Him. He took me on a tour of the stars, of that mysterious blinking light on the wing, of the vastness of the souls He created, nestled in the city lights below. So many people, so many He loves. When I look down just at one city, I glimpse the Lord’s viewpoint for just a moment, that viewpoint that’s higher than an eagle’s, that reminds me, “He’s got the whole world in His hands”. When I see how tiny those people are, I get a glimpse of the reason Jesus stepped down here to save us: we’re too small to save ourselves. A good leader comes behind their own and empowers them with strength.
If the song of wishes and the night sky had been written when I was four years old–when I stared longingly into the sky–then I would have been the author there. “Dear Jesus, I would wish for that airplane in that night sky…” In the heart of a babe, the Lord set His prophetic dream. My little hands rested on the sill and pressed my face against the glass window, drawn into the mystery of those twinkling diamonds. Only He could have lifted me into the atmosphere of my dreams. My wish came true.
So I looked down at my book. It read of a thousand things to be thankful for, because the Lord is in every moment and wants His children to gratefully realize what He’s given them, not living under the tree that He hasn’t allowed us to eat from, but rejoicing that we are allowed to freely eat from all the others! His creation is filled with wonder, so we can behold His goodness toward us. Everything that He gives is good, and He is good; and the Bible says to give thanks in everything. I am convicted, and humbled by the realization that He does have the whole world in His hands. And what He gives is beautiful–it’s enough for us, being present in present moments. I am grateful. And although we are allowed to eat from every tree He has given us except just one, Jesus wants to find an even greater way to bless us, saying, “Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.” “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” A good leader raises up the weak. So I put my pen to my journal and continued my own list of a thousand things I’m thankful for. #345. Airplanes in the night sky… #346. Childhood God-given dreams fulfilled. I feel close to God in the night sky.
“Lord Jesus, I want to see Your glory up there in the sky.” “Yes.” And several years of growing into an adult later, I’m in an airplane in the night sky, touring the cosmos silently. Because He lavishes us with good things.
