As we boarded the plane to fly home from Florida, we were surrounded by cute Mickey Mouse souvenirs everywhere. There were Orlando t-shirts, bags and hats. There were Mickey ears and light up Mickey Mouse shoes. There were stuffed Mickey Mouse dolls and suitcases.
One of the coolest things I saw was this Mickey Mouse balloon that was actually a double balloon. It was a Mickey Mouse head, ears and all, blown up INSIDE of this other clear balloon giving it a snow globe look. It was quite a large balloon and I saw them all over the airport.
A lady sitting with us as we waited to board the plane said they made her grandson deflate the balloon one time when they were there and then they could reinflate it when they got to their destination. We couldn’t imagine flying with one of those balloons up thousands of feet with pressure changes in the cabin. Even our closed water bottles usually were reshaped while in the air. How would a balloon survive?
As we snuggled in our seats, on came a little boy with his still-inflated balloon. We couldn’t believe it. The father put the balloon in the overhead bin and we prepared for a loud pop (and a traumatic child) or for the balloon to be totally deflated upon the opening of that bin.
But we were shocked… when we arrived and the balloon was retrieved, it looked exactly as it had when the gentlemen put it in the overhead bin! We had ascended thousands of feet. It was hot on the plane at times. My ears popped indicating pressure changes but that balloon came out looking the same. I was so glad for that little boy!
Then I began thinking about our lives. We go through a lot in our lives. We are happy and feeling pumped up, then we get stuffed in what seems like a dark place. We experience pressure changes and sometimes the heat gets turned up. Sometimes we may feel like we can’t breathe and life has crushed us to the max. But when we turn our eyes to Jesus, we can see that we have made it. Even though we went through all the pain and pressure, we can remain solid and not pop when we put our trust and hope in God.
In 2 Corinthians 4:8, Paul tells us “we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
If you are feeling like you could “pop” at any minute and the changes in cabin pressure feel overwhelming, stop with me right now and pray for God to land you safely with your faith still in tact and your hope still alive. No matter what we go through, God will use it for His good and His glory. We just need to BELIEVE and have HOPE and don’t let the cabin pressure change deflate you.
For when we land, we will come out stronger than when we started!!
