After years of working in international missions, I learned how to adapt to long flights across oceans and continents. What I did on long flights was go into what I called airplane mode. In airplane mode, I trained myself to adapt my mind and body to experience a timeless mode of travel that kept me mentally unaffected by long hours sitting in one place in an aluminum tube.

Two weeks ago, at 4:30 am, I got a phone call from my daughter, Anna. I was already up. She and her husband were scheduled to fly out that day to Chile, where my son-in-law, a world-class kayaker, would run the rivers of southern Chile with a team of other experienced kayakers. 

The reason for the call was to tell me that the first flight of the journey had been cancelled by the airline. They needed to get to Sacramento, where they could still make a flight to LA that would take them to Chile.

Anna asked, “Dad, can you drive us to Sacramento? If we can make it in time, we can still get to Chile. We will be cutting it close if we can depart soon.”

We only had 30 minutes to get going, or their flight from Sacramento to LA would be missed. I would need to meet them at a McDonald’s parking lot south of town, where we could connect and head south on I-5 to Sacramento. In record time, we made it to the Sacramento airport just in time for them to catch their connecting flight to Los Angeles.

There are times in life when we need to be prepared to tell time to wait its turn so we can do what the Lord asks of us. Helping my daughter and son-in-law was such a time. I came to their last-minute request for a long drive with a whole lot of experience. 

Even though early-morning travel is not my favorite, I met my daughter and son-in-law at 5:00 am with joy and excitement. I made the almost 12-hour round-trip in peace and joy because I did not allow time to dictate my attitude.  

When I finally got home, Jan looked at me and said, “You look joyful and happy.” I was. Time and its slow progression did not rule my thoughts. I was in airplane mode.

I had plenty of reasons to dread an almost 12-hour round-trip drive. But the joy of being able to help my kids was greater than the stress of the trip. While time and its effect on us do not change, what can change is how we view and interpret time. We can master the effects of time by seeing time from God’s perspective.

Peter wrote, “You must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day” (II Peter 3:8). That one thing a – God’s measurement of time – allowed me to enter the timeless realm of airplane mode where the Lord allowed me to do what was right and good and not succumb to a complaining and ungrateful mindset.