This past Tuesday I had to get up at 4am for an early flight out of Dublin. Normally I check in online and have my boarding pass before getting to the airport, but I didn’t have the Aer Lingus ap. I figured it would be okay since usually we can get our boarding pass and luggage tag from one kiosk at the airport. Not this time. I needed to get in a long, slow line of around 50 people to get to a human-manned counter to obtain the boarding pass. Then I could go to a kiosk to print the luggage tag.
I got in line, but it was looking like a half hour wait at the rate it was going. I went to the AL website on my phone and got the boarding pass downloaded. Done. Now that I’m freed from purgatory, the kiosk is next. I print the luggage tag, and it’s on to the conveyor belt for the dropoff. I load my luggage on the belt, scan the bar code on the tag, and press send. A large message flashes on the screen: “YOUR BAGGAGE TAG IS INVALID” and the belt quickly whisks my luggage away before I can grab it.
Now I’m sideways, with visions of my luggage going to other side of the earth or getting lost somewhere in a maze of Irish conveyor belts dancing in my mind. There are several items in the bag I don’t want to lose, including a well-marked Bible I’ve had for 30 years.
I tell one of the attendants what happened; she shrugs and tells me not to worry about it. I move through security, praying, wrestling with fear of what might happen, what I should do next. Part of the challenge of flying solo internationally is you’re on your own in a country with a different way of doing life and have to find a way to get through the situation without having someone to bounce ideas off of.
After security, I get something to eat at a café where I’m still wrestling, praying, reeling, trying to figure it out. I get hit with a thought of anger at God. Moments later another thought blasts my mind that “this is too much for me.”
I think, “But it’s not too much for God.”
I pull my laptop out and start working on some notes for this weekend. I’ll be speaking on fear at a church in Italy this Friday night, then on other topics Saturday night and Sunday morning. (See the events schedule below).
The light breaks through the fog of my mind. I’m speaking on fear, of course. Often when I’m speaking on a topic I’ll get hit with the thing I’ll be sharing about. I might get hit with lust dreams or thoughts before talking about pornography or sexual issues.
Often, the thing we’re afraid of doesn’t happen. We spin ourselves around with the “What ifs” until we fall into a hole of discouragement, then Anger, Fear’s cousin, follows up with the second blow. “God isn’t with you; do you see what He’s forcing you to go through?” Then comes the knockout punch: “It’s too much; just quit. Prayer is useless. Turn to something that will feel good… porn, sex, salty or sugary food, hours zoning out on your phone, perhaps on a social media or YouTube binge.” Check out. Give up. Surrender.
Fear, anger, hopelessness: the 1-2-3 punch of the enemy.
If I was a secular Christian as so many are these days, I might have crumbled at that point. By secular Christian I mean those who shy away from or avoid the topic of spiritual warfare, focusing more on their Bible knowledge or doctrine or what they can see. Many believers have little understanding or discernment when it comes to spiritual warfare with the result that they wallow in defeat and discouragement. In warfare, the enemy has to be resisted and shut down. You can get people praying for you, but you’ll still have to stand up and fight.
When the light broke through, I saw that the real battle was against fear, not what might happen with my luggage, which was out of my control and in God’s hands. I was tired from waking up early and off balance after being blindsided by the 1-2-3 attack. Praying while getting hit and remembering God’s word carried me through. I prayed something like “I’m not given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound mind. In the name of Jesus I renounce lust, hatred, and anger” to seal the victory. Some battles don’t resolve the moment we start praying; we have to keep pressing through until the answer or the breakthrough comes.
From that moment the fear vanished, taking anger and discouragement along with it. “Okay God, my luggage is in your hands, show me what to do next.” At the gate I told one of the attendants what happened with the Invalid Tag message. Her eyes popped wide open as if to say “Ohh noo, you’re in trouble” but then she told me to ask the next attendant to check if my bag had been loaded. In spite of her response I was still at a place of peace, trusting. The other attendant punched some keys in her computer, and said, “Yes, your bag has been loaded on the plane.”
Always remember the spiritual battle. Many believers don’t understand that a lot of what they’re going through is connected to warfare, and that the enemy can hurl dark thoughts and fear darts at their mind. The only fear justified in the Bible is the fear of the Lord. All other fears are either our own, or the enemy piling it on, or both. Keep praying, stay strong in God’s truth, don’t give in to hopelessness, and never quit.