Nothing is more frustrating for an air traveler than facing cancelations with no obvious explanation. Such has been the case at DFW Airport this week.  

For example, American Airlines canceled more than 340 flights Tuesday even though skies were clear and there were no equipment failures. The reason: bad weather on Sunday disrupted their travel schedules, resulting in major problems with crew availability in the days following. In fact, more than three-quarters of the cancelations on Tuesday were due to crew staffing problems. 

As the Dallas Morning News reports, pilots and flight attendants have limits on how many hours they can work, even if such work is sitting on a runway waiting for the weather to clear or to get clearance for takeoff. When crew members hit their maximum hour limits, they often need to be replaced by other crew members. The more delays and cancellations there are across the system, the more difficult it can be to backfill pilots and flight attendants. 

I’ve experienced this often over the years. It can be frustrating to wait to be seated in a restaurant when open tables are visible. Usually, however, this is caused by a shortage of waitstaff and the restaurant’s desire to make sure its customers receive good service once they are seated. 

A couple of years ago, I had to take my car in for what I thought were minor repairs. When I didn’t hear back that day, I became frustrated and called for an update only to learn that the damage was far more extensive than I had thought and the mechanics were doing a complete assessment before calling with the news. 

All this to say, what we can see is often caused by what we cannot see. 

Two consequences follow. 

One: We should resist criticizing others for behavior we cannot fully understand. 

A counselor once wisely noted that there is always “one thing more” we don’t know about people with whom we are in conflict. Usually, if we learned that “one thing,” we would better understand and perhaps even appreciate their actions. 

For example, a man came home from work and told his wife he wanted to take her out for Mexican food. She insisted, however, that she wanted to go to their favorite Chinese restaurant. He became insistent that he wanted what he wanted; she insisted that she wanted what she wanted. Frustrated, he finally yielded and went with her to the Chinese restaurant, where he found a surprise birthday party waiting for him which his wife had arranged. 

Jesus warned us, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). We are told, “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers” (James 4:11). We are to be “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19). 

Some behavior is obviously unbiblical and cannot be justified even by further knowledge. But often, if we would stop to pray for discernment, patience, and wisdom, the Lord will help us understand what others are experiencing and enable us to serve them with his compassion and grace. 

Oswald Chambers is right: “Discernment is God’s call to intercession, never to fault finding.” 

Two: God knows what no one else knows. 

The Bible teaches that “God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:20). Scripture states, “No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). 

As a result, we can know that God understands what no one else does. When we are facing issues that are not visible to the world, our Father sees them and cares for us. He feels our pain and walks with us in our struggles. We have an unseen Companion for the unseen trials of life. 

But we can also know that our unseen sins are obvious to him. We may think we’re “getting away with” sins the world does not see, but this is not true with our Lord. We will be judged one day for all we have done, whether good or evil (2 Corinthians 5:10). At risk is not eternal salvation for Christians, but eternal reward or loss of reward (1 Corinthians 3:12–15). 

I’ll close with this: a few days ago, I got into my car only to detect a strong odor. It smelled like water had caused carpet to rot or an animal had died inside the engine. I opened the windows as I drove to work, but that didn’t help. I left the windows open overnight, but the next morning, the entire garage stank. 

So I began seeking the source of the problem. Checking the carpets for moisture, I came to the passenger side front door where I found an empty carton of protein drink I had left days before. The lid was on the carton, but being dairy-based and left in a hot car for a few days, it became the source of the malodorous problem I was trying to solve. Once I removed it, the problem was resolved. 

Is there an “empty carton” in your soul today?

Denison Forum

Guinness World Records has confirmed that Samantha Ramsdell is the record holder for the world’s largest mouth gape for a female. Hers measures two and a half inches; when measured across, it reaches more than four inches.

Ramsdell has 1.7 million TikTok followers and has used her mouth frequently in videos. She has stuffed three donuts in her mouth and fit in a large order of fries, for instance. She says her mouth used to be “something that really I was so insecure about, something that I wanted to keep so small.” Now she says that it’s “one of the biggest, best things about me.” 

Samantha adds: “It’s your superpower. It’s the thing that makes you unique and special. Everyone should be celebrating what makes them different.” 

Three ways we know everything we know 

Samantha is right: we each have a “superpower.” We are each uniquely made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) with gifts, abilities, experiences, and opportunities that are uniquely ours. 

If we are to be Jesus’ witnesses (Acts 1:8) by making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19), it stands to reason that we should discover the way we can best fulfill his commission. 

For example, philosophers tell us that we learn all we know in one of three ways: the intuitive, the pragmatic, and the rational. We do math rationally; we start our cars pragmatically (unless we are automotive engineers, in which case we probably start them rationally); we like people intuitively. 

We all do all three, but one tends to dominate our personality. For example, I am “wired” by God to be rational to such an extent that I have very limited intuitive capacities and sometimes do not consider the practical consequences of my rational ideas. 

Three consequences follow. 

One: We should know our weaknesses and trust those who are gifted in ways we are not. 

My wife is highly intuitive, with discernment as one of her spiritual gifts. Rev. Jeff Byrd, my ministry partner for more than three decades, is a former engineer and business consultant and is highly pragmatic. On my good days, I consult them before making any major decisions, knowing that they will see things I will not and can predict consequences that I likely will not see. 

Whom do you know who is gifted and created in ways you are not? With whom are you partnering as you partner with the Lord? 

Two: We should focus our energies on strategies that play to our strengths. 

Paul was a former Pharisee and student of Gamaliel. As a result, he typically began his missionary work in a town or city by engaging with the local synagogue where his personal history lent credibility to his work. William Wilberforce, a man whose family was well known to British aristocracy and governing authorities, was called by God to serve as a member of the government and use that position to help eradicate slavery. 

God’s call usually aligns with our capacities. Knowing where your gifts, abilities, and experiences align is often a good way to identify your kingdom assignment. 

C. S. Lewis told a congregation of Oxford University students and scholars, “A man’s upbringing, his talents, his circumstances, are usually a tolerable index of his vocation. If our parents have sent us to Oxford, if our country allows us to remain there, this is prima facie evidence that the life which we, at any rate, can best lead to the glory of God at present is the learned life.” 

What is your “Oxford”? 

Three: We must always trust God more than ourselves. 

Even C. S. Lewis, for all his brilliance, did not possess the capacity to convict a single person of a single sin or save a single soul. Humans cannot do the work of the Spirit. Only the Father can recreate us as his children through faith in his Son (John 1:12). 

While he chooses to call, equip, and use us in his kingdom enterprises, we must always remember that our work is a means to his end. We must begin every day by submitting that day to his Spirit’s leading and empowering (Ephesians 5:18). We must “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) that he would work in us and through us to make fallen people into his “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

As we work, God works. As we do our best in his strength for his glory, he uses us in ways we will not fully understand on this side of eternity. 

“I am a walking testimony” 

American hurdler Kendra “Keni” Harrison won a silver medal for Team USA in the 100-meter hurdles Monday. Her achievement was the result of years of training, hard work, and sacrifice. 

Nonetheless, in an interview following the event, Harrison proclaimed that “all the glory goes to God just to have this opportunity.” When she broke the world record in 2016, she stated, “I am a walking testimony of how incredible God truly is.” Her Twitter biography features the phrase, “I love Jesus.” 

As we work, God works. 

How will you partner with him today? 

Denison Forum