I actually wrote a post while sitting in the airport in Detroit, but had no internet and, thus, I was unable to post it on here. Now that I've had some time and a dependable internet connection, I figured I should go ahead and post it. I hope you enjoy it.
Well, I’m currently sitting in Detroit eating some Clif
bars, waiting for my flight to Haneda International Airport in Tokyo. It’s been
quite an exciting couple of days. For those of you who didn’t know this, I was
actually supposed to fly out to Japan
yesterday. My original schedule was to fly to LAX around 6:30 last night, and
then to leave LA around midnight, putting me in Japan at 5:00AM May 4th.
However, the flight was cancelled due to some mechanical problems, and the next
best flight they had for me puts me in Tokyo
around 10:30PM tomorrow night. This made things a bit difficult, as I had to cancel
my bus ride to Osaka
that was scheduled to leave tomorrow night around 9:00PM. Thankfully, I was
able to get 60% of my ticket refunded.
This situation, among some other things, made for a pretty
shoddy Wednesday. I went home from the airport pretty frustrated and not
wanting to do anything but sleep. I couldn’t see any good reason that God would
have canceled my flight and put me out $40 for my bus ticket. But my ways are
not His ways; His ways are so much higher than mine.
That night I ended up having a conversation with a good
friend of mine who reminded me of something crucial that I had forgotten. During
our conversation, he challenged me on several things, and asked me what the
driving forces behind my coming to Japan were. I realized that somewhere
between being excited about leaving the country for two months and seeing good
friends, I lost sight of why I was really going there. I’ve been so focused for
so long on going to karaoke, playing music, and seeing friends that I haven’t
seen in a long time, I’ve forgotten that my purpose there is to carry the
gospel to a dying world. I’m not (at least, I shouldn’t be) going for myself;
my life is to be a living sacrifice for He who laid down His life for me. I go
where He calls me to go, and wherever He calls me to go, I am to live a life
consumed with a passion for Him. It is because I love Him that I love the lost
in Japan ;
it is because He loves them that I am to them.
I suppose forgotten isn’t the best word, as I never truly forgot that was my purpose. It’s
more like all the other small and insignificant (when compared to my true
calling) parts of my trip had eclipsed what matters most. I have been so concerned
with all these little things that I have let my love for them take precedence
over my love for God and, thus, the calling he has placed before me. And God
broke me for that. In love, He let me miss my flight, so I would have that
conversation with my friend, so through that He could remind me of what I am
here for. I seriously doubt I would have had that conversation had I not missed
my flight.
To my first love, I’m coming back to You.
At this point it looks like I will probably be spending the night
in the Tokyo airport, as I have a package I need to mail to a friend working in
Japan, and I believe the delivery service will probably be closed by the time I
land. Seeing as how I already am carrying a backpack, guitar, and suitcase, I
won’t be able to carry the package with me anywhere. It’s a shame I didn’t
bring The Terminal with me.
I appreciate all of you who are praying for me, and who
supported me so that I could come here. Thank you so, so much for all you’ve
done for me.
Please pray that somehow I can get this package mailed so
that I can take a train to my friend’s house and sleep.
I’ll be in touch.
Matthew Wimberly
