This past month, I was at Chicago’ s Midway airport walking my 16 year old daughter to her gate so she could fly to Connecticut for a week-long internship. It is not every day you get to be in an airport, amid the hustle and bustle, and not have a f light to catch yourself. After my daughter boarded, I waited to watch her plane roll out. As I was waiting, I kept hearing announcements leading up to a chapel service. I had flown in and out of that airport for 30 years and had no idea there was a chapel! The more I heard the countdown, “ 15 minutes until worship service in the chapel in terminal C,” I knew I needed to attend.
The chapel was small, overlooking hangars and runways with about thirty chairs, and I and one other sat quietly soaking in the surroundings. One by one, travelers made their way in to f ind a seat. About twenty of us filled the chapel at the start of service. The airport chaplain introduced himself and told us that this was one of the fourteen airport chapels remaining in the United States, and he hosts THREE services a day, seven days a week, and connects with thousands of travelers each year.
We sang a few hymns, recited the Lord’ s Prayer, and then he grabbed a pad of paper and asked the small group in front of him if there were any prayer requests to share. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US shared what was heavy on our heart: one grieving lady on her way to her mother’ s funeral, a man with a hearing- impaired son about to have the surgery to restore his hearing, another with the burden of family addictions, and the list went on. The chaplain promised to put these requests in his prayer box in the front of the chapel and specifically pray for them all week.
Proverbs 3 : 5 – 6 “ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Using this verse, the chaplain encouraged each one of us that though we were all in passing that day, on our way to different destinations for varied reasons, the Lord was with us and worthy of our trust.
He used this analogy of our phone maps: When we enter an address, it guides us to our destination, even if we make wrong turns. The app re- routes us and gets us on the right path if we listen and obey the instructions, just as when we dive into His Word and seek guidance. We were challenged that day to open our Bibles with the mind frame “ proceed to the route” and allow God to direct our paths.
I have often reflected upon this short 30- minute chapel service over the past month and how I could have easily missed this blessing had I not stopped and taken time to soak in God’ s goodness during that chaotic day.
We all experience the “ hectic” in our lives, but I am thankful for Kingdom ministries like the airport chapel, which serve as daily reminders of God’ s goodness. THANK YOU for supporting THIS Kingdom ministry, Shine. FM, which continues to sing God’s goodness over souls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We couldn’t do it without YOU!
