For we walk by faith, not by sight… II Corinthians 5:7 (KJV)
Last week I read about a man who, while flying a small plane, became disoriented. He called the tower saying that he wasn’t trained to fly with instruments, but they assured him that they could bring him in safely. All he had to do was follow their directions.
The unseen air traffic controller gave specific, calm instructions, all the while telling the frightened pilot that they had him on their screen, just to keep listening and obeying. For a minute or two, things went well until the controller’s directions seemed counter intuitive to the rookie pilot’s perceptions. Ignoring the tower, the pilot soon lost control of his aircraft and plunged to the ground.
There are things in our daily walk that sometimes do not make sense. We’ve gotten our instructions and are headed on the journey when storms arise and circumstances confuse. And that’s when it’s critical that we get our bearings and our confidence not from ourselves or our perceptions but persist until we hear from our Heavenly Father.
It’s very easy to think we’ve somehow gone amiss when we’re having a “Job” experience—everything seems out of place. Even Job’s good friends heaped blame on him as they enumerated all the disequilibrium that was his daily experience. And his wife of many years advised him to just curse God and die. But Job determined that no matter what happened—though God slay me—he would still trust God.
Our present circumstances may be confusing rather than affirming, and we may not feel trained to fly in this. But that’s just when we need to be still and know that God is directing. If there needs to be a course direction, he’ll tell us. In the meantime, we go by faith, not by sight.
Father, strengthen our trust in you so that no matter what happens in our lives, we rely on you and your sovereignty. Cause us to persevere knowing that you are faithful and will bring us to a desired end. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.
agodforeveryday 