An unexpected perspective…

I was blessed to fly from Ballina to Sydney recently.  I love flying.  So, I planned this trip a little.  I checked the weather in Sydney and given the forecast northerly wind I decided the best seat was by a window on the right-hand side of the plane.  This would mean on approach to Sydney we would fly out over the ocean, and then bank over the Royal National Park before descending over Botany Bay and landing.  It was going to be amazing!  It was a sunny day.  The water would be pristine.  And I would get the globally renowned view of Sydney Harbour, including the Bridge, the Opera House, and the city itself.  I have experienced this flight a number of times, so my expectations were clear.

The plane roared into flight from Ballina and was soon gracefully ascending over the ocean, sweeping around with amazing views to Byron Bay and beyond.  As expected, we commenced a spectacular arc, climbing to over thirty thousand feet with views of Armidale then Tamworth and the western slopes and plains in the distance.  Beautiful.

We approached Sydney, and descended through the fluffy clouds but found something was different.  We were above western Sydney rather than the normal route over the Northern Beaches.  I had not experienced this flight path before.  This was a significantly different perspective.  My face was almost pressed against the glass like a child as I watched the Parramatta River below, and wondered what was next.  Then it happened.  As we flew over North Sydney I looked directly down on the Harbour Bridge as we passed over.  I missed the Opera House.  It was below us somewhere.  But the city itself!  I have seen the city of Sydney countless times, but I have never looked down on it from above like this!  It was a perspective of something familiar that was simply astounding!

My wondering continued in the relative mundane of the train trip home.  How familiar can God become?  How well planned and predictable might our expectations of Him be?  Yet we read and believe he is “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”  Perhaps in our “planned” journey of life we would do well to seek out and enjoy the “unimaginable” stuff of God?