Create a Sweet Smelling Aroma

There are times when you feel like you are caught between a rock and a hard place.  These are situations you are in, but you have few to no options to change things.  That was the situation I found myself in as I flew to Seattle yesterday to visit spiritual family.  Even though I was able to board the plane early, I wasn’t too excited because I was stuck in a middle seat.  Early boarding did allow me time to get all of my things situated for the nearly 5 hour flight.  It was not long before my two row mates arrived.  The first was a hunky guy with a sweet Australian accent.  The other was a friendly, all-America good guy.  Per usual, I was asleep before the flight took off.  I woke up about 30 minutes later feeling stuck in the middle.  That feeling increased as the flight continued.

About an hour into the flight, the attendants distributed drinks, snack and sold meals.  The guy on the left of me, the All American, brought a few snacks on the flight with Him.  He also bought a sandwich from the airline.  The Aussie on the right ordered four gin and tonics throughout the flight.  We are about half way through our journey when my fellow American’s stomach begins to rebel.  Now I can’t prove it was him, but the smells assaulting my nose were close and personal.  After having emergency gall bladder surgery a couple of years ago, I often have stomach discomfort so I always travel with Pepto Bismol, prescription meds and other over the counter stomach meds.  I was going to offer something to him, but I could never figure out exactly how to ask if he was the chronic polluter of the recycled air.  Add to all of this, my legs and knees have started to cramp up from being stuffed between these two guys.  This flight was no longer going well.

Before I began to sing, “Gloom, despair, agony on me; deep down depression, excessive misery” (throwback to Hee Haw days), I put on my headphones and begin to worship. The music and lyrics begin to fill my spirit and soul with the joy of knowing God.  Since it is easy for me to be transported to another place spiritually when I am in worship, it wasn’t long before I forgot about the smells, the drunk, and my legs and knees.  The sweet smell of worship overwhelmed the natural smells that were trying to take me to a dark place mentally.  I was enjoying worship so much that when I felt the plane start its descent to land, I was a little disappointed that I had to change my focus to disembarking and baggage claim.  Of course, my joy returned upon seeing Roy and Julie wells there to greet me.

We all will find ourselves feeling trapped by circumstances and situations at some time or another.  We must worship our way through it.  That is exactly the same thing Paul and Silas did when they were locked in prison for setting a captive girl free.

Acts 16:25(NKJV) 
²⁵But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 

This prison had to be dark, dirty, smelly and crowded.  They prayed and sang and God released them from their chains.

When King Jehoshaphat heard that a great army was coming against them.  He sought the Lord.  The Lord instructed Him to send the singers out before the army and God Himself would fight their battle.

2 Chronicles 20:21-22(NKJV) 
²¹And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:      “Praise the Lord,     For His mercy endures forever.”^£ 22Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.

We must learn to live a life of worship.  Worship focuses you on God and magnifies His goodness over and above anything you face.  So let’s worship at all times creating a sweet aroma of praise to our God.  My experience was not the worst in the world, but worship made the difference. 

https://youtu.be/D4RUjGsTfks?list=RDD4RUjGsTfks