I recall a time in my ministry when the congregation and I encountered a challenge. As their leader, I was troubled and needed to make a decision about how this particular situation should be handled.
Although I don’t remember all the particulars of this specific situation, I do remember that at one point during that particularly challenging time I had to take a trip.
The travel arrangements were made, I made my way to the airport, and I boarded the plane. And it just so happened that I got a window seat.
As the plane took off and began to soar, all the while I was having a conversation with God. I was extremely troubled. I was not looking for a simple answer or quick solution—something that I could accomplish without much effort. I wanted to hear from God. I wanted to be in alignment with God’s perfect will, not His permissive will.
Let me pause and confess to you that one of the joys of being a pastor is that you have a wonderful boss. God is my boss; the conference office signs my paycheck.
When I became a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, it was with the knowledge that God had promised that He would never leave me nor forsake me. I have a sign hanging behind my desk in my office at home. It reads, “The Will of God will not take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.” And I believe that.
When I looked out the window that day as I flew over thousands of homes, a thought hit me. From the vantage point of passengers in a plane, we can observe homes and the persons in these homes from a vastly different perspective. When we look at our problems from above, they appear smaller and less significant than they do from the ground. I thought to myself, This is the view God has! From 35 or 45 thousand feet, our problems look a lot different.
When we look at our problems from above, they appear smaller and less significant than they do from the ground.
Look at how vast the world is! The problem that seems to be so gigantic to me is very small in the grand scheme of things.
Every one of these homes has people living in them. And they all have their own individual lives and families. Each of these homes that I was observing from the sky contains their joys, troubles, difficulties, and challenges.
And I imagine that in each one of these homes, their particular problems appear to be all-consuming. That’s how life is. When you are in a boat and it’s taking on water, all you can think about is your boat and not the hundreds of other vessels that are in the water around you.
As I continued to look out the window into the horizon, I began to look at that problem from a completely different vantage point. I realized that God was handling the challenges in all those homes, in all those lives, all around the globe. Of course He could handle my challenges, my problems.
Needless to say, I came home with a different outlook on the problem. God showed us how to solve it, and it was resolved—or at least the problem was mitigated. And, most importantly, today I don’t carry it around with me. God took care of it. You know, from that day forward, I began to look at problems differently.
I am human, so I still get stressed and sometimes overwhelmed. However, when I have a challenge that overwhelms me, I love to get on a plane and look out the window and remember what God has done for me in the past and what He is doing in billions of lives around the globe.
When I can’t fly, I can accomplish the same feat by driving the car to a vantage point overlooking the city or by sitting on the beach and looking out at the vastness of God’s wonderful creation. I love to take a walk or a hike in the woods, looking at a beautiful lake or waterfall or observing the great expanse and grandeur of a mountain. All these are reminders of how truly great and mighty God really is.
It all reminds me that God’s got me. He’s got us. He always has, and He always will keep His promise to us. Thus we can claim the promise He made to Joshua: “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6, NIV).
He will never leave us. He will not forsake us.
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Leon B. Brown Sr. is the executive vice president of the Pacific Union Conference.
