A long time ago, while working on my pilot’s license, I had to endure time ‘under the hood.’ My instructor would hand me a strange looking device that fit me like a cap with an extended tube on the front. This weird thing only allowed me to see the airplane’s instrument panel. He assured me you can “fly this plane as long as the fuel lasts with those instruments.” There was a purpose in the exercise, preparing me for a time when clouds would prevent me from seeing the horizon, when ‘up’ and ‘down’ would not be discerned with my natural senses.
I learned a pattern of scanning those indicators so that I would maintain speed, keep the wings level, and control the plane’s rates of climb or descent- all without reference to anything other than the instruments. While under the hood, we would practice- “Jerry, let’s make a turn to heading 270 while descending to 3000 feet.” What would have been so easy if I could see the horizon was more difficult for me, but quite possible using only the indicators that showed me the attitude of my airplane!
Seasons in life come that rob us of our natural reference points that keep us balanced and on course, don’t they? We can become very sick and completely lose perspective. We can get bone-tired and our will fails. So many things can fall over us - discouragement, criticism, conflict, doubt, fear – a bank of fog that steals our sight. Like an untrained pilot losing control of his plane in a fog, we can lose our sense of purpose and/or direction, in grave peril of crashing. We need not spin into patterns of self-destruction when the way ahead is lost in confusion, IF we know how to trust the guidance system God provides to us. God invites us to lean on the Spirit - to trust His ways even when they are not our ways.
From experience I can tell you that while flying
that airplane without seeing the horizon, there were times my senses lied to
me, telling me that up was down, that I was flying straight and level when I
truly was not. I had to override me natural senses to trust the instruments. The Word tells us that we thrive when we “keep
step with the Spirit!” We cannot
just trust our ‘gut,’ live by emotions,
or go on instinct.
My friend that is why daily disciplines of prayer, meditation, Scripture intake, and worship are critical. They prepare us for the inevitable stormy moments when vision is obscured, when we cannot see ahead! "Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the sheep under his care. Oh, that you would listen to his voice today!" (Psalm 95:6-7, NLT)
Jesus invites us to come, follow. He says "My sheep recognize my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. So no one can take them from me." (John 10:27-29, NLT) IF we follow His lead, we need not worry about straying from the Way.
By contrast, consider this from the Word. “Look at the
proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous
will live by their faithfulness to God." (Habakkuk 2:4, NLT)
From time to time, God will invite us to learn to fly ‘under the hood.’ Those moments are teachable ones, preparing us for what may come. Learn, listen, follow! And if you are in the fog, remember these words from the book of Hebrews - "Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved." (Hebrews 10:36-39, NLT)
Steady on, disciple! The word from the Word is simple and brief - "For we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7, NKJV) Amen.
____________
(Video of this blog at this link)
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak but Thou art mighty,
Hold me with Thy pow'rful hand.
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
Feed me now and ever more,
Feed me now and ever more.
Open Thou the crystal fountain
Whence the healing stream doth flow.
Let the fiery cloudy pillar,
Lead me all my journey through!
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my strength and shield,
Be Thou still my strength and shield.
John Hughes | Peter Williams | William Williams
© Words: Public Domain
No comments:
Post a Comment