When the Plan Doesn't Work - Pt. 2

In the last Tom’s Take I shared a day in my life in which I had planned to attend a leadership conference in Chicago in the morning, fly to Philadelphia in the afternoon, attend an important Phillies game that night, and then go and stay at my mom’s house. I had a perfect plan for a full and rewarding day - but all that got blown up when I received a text that my flight to Philly had been canceled. I wound up booking a flight to Baltimore that arrived at 3:45; I was trying to get to Philadelphia at 6:15 for a special ceremony before the game. In good traffic, the drive from BWI airport to Citizen’s Bank Park is 2 hours and 15 minutes. This was a Friday afternoon in the summer. Getting to the event on time looked like it would take a miracle.

I hoped for an on-time flight and a miracle of good traffic. The flight arrived a few minutes early. Yay! But then no one was getting off the plane and the pilot announced, “We got in early and we are waiting for a jet bridge operator.” Ugh. Finally, I got off the plane and quickly got in the car to drive to Philadelphia. My wife Mia and son Nate came to pick me up. And yes, I insisted on driving.

When I put our destination in the GPS, it said we would arrive at 6:18. My wife graciously said, “We can drop you off at the stadium and find parking.” We prayed a rosary together. As were offering up intentions, my son Nate said, “We pray for patience.” Immediately, I responded, “Don’t pray for patience. That means we are going to get caught in more traffic.” Whenever you pray for a virtue, God gives you the opportunity to use it. I didn’t want to grow in patience (which I do need to grow in); I wanted to get to the ceremony on time. After I told my son not to pray for patience, he prayed, “God, please let there be a rain delay.” In my spirit I disagreed with it. I still wanted the miracle of getting there on time, but didn’t say anything out loud.

As we drove, it was clear we weren’t going to make it on time. Driving up I-95, we kept hitting traffic. There was a huge monsoon at one point that slowed us down to 40 miles per hour. You know that experience of driving when the ETA according to GPS doesn’t get shorter, it just gets longer? Our ETA moved from 6:18 to 6:25 to 6:30 to 6:43.

At about 6 pm, we were still 43 minutes from arrival. My son was on his phone and suddenly announced, “The game has been delayed.” It was crazy because at that point there was no rain. We turned on the radio station where they announce the Phillies game. Sure enough, it was supposed to rain for 30 minutes at game time so they pushed back both the start of the game and the ceremony. We actually arrived in plenty of time before the ceremony and game. It was a great blessing to be there!

As I reflect on this part of the day, I take away three insights on prayer:

One, our prayers do get answered even if they don’t always get answered in the way we want them to. I prayed for no traffic. Nate prayed for a rain delay.

Two, we need to say thank you for answered prayers. Once it was clear we were going to make the ceremony and the game, my wife Mia said, “Now say thank you.” She didn’t mean to her and my son. She meant to God. Luke’s Gospel tells us about the ten lepers who get healed, but only one comes back to thank Jesus. Too often I act like the nine lepers. Thanking God for the good in our lives is vital to a good relationship with him.

Third, I need to pray for more important things with the same intensity. I’m amazed at how I can pray or desire such small things with such fervor and then not care about weightier matters in the same way. I’m now asking God to fill me with the same zeal on the more important things in life, such as my family and ministry.

Which of these lessons on prayer resonates with you? I’d love to hear it. Email me at tom@rebuiltparish.com.

Rooting for you,
Tom