I’m a fan of analogies and since I’m on a walk by faith kick right now, I’ll use another one I thought of the other day as my flight landed in Cleveland Ohio. I was on a red eye headed to North Carolina and needless to say, very tired.
As the pilot notified us of our initial decent, I could see the lights on the ground several miles below. I closed my eyes again for the remaining 30 minutes of the flight, opening them periodically to judge how soon we would be landing by how close we were to the ground. Funny thing, for the final fifteen or twenty minutes of the flight I could see almost nothing as the plane was completely engulfed in thick fog.
Then out of nowhere the ground appeared and couldn’t have been more than a few hundred feet away. It took me by surprise because almost as quickly as we regained visibility, we were on the ground taxiing down the runway.
The pilot did an exceptional job landing the aircraft despite severely limited visibility and that’s what got me thinking about walking by faith. No doubt the pilot’s vision was limited but he had three contributing factors helping guide him in and we have similar outside sources helping us along as we walk by faith in times or poor visibility.
The first were his gauges. No doubt our plane had numerous gauges in the cockpit telling the pilot how fast he was going, how close the ground he was, and if he was even headed in the right direction. Despite what he could see, his gauges helped keep him on course.
Like the pilot and his gauges, we have ways of discerning if we are on the right course and headed toward our ultimate goal. By reading and aligning ourselves with Gods Word we can discern the direction of our life and make sure we are on course. Learning to listen to the Holy Spirit and his leading can help us speed up or slow down in times of uncertainty caused by our low visibility.
It’s important to note that instruments have the potential to fail or be misread which can cause significant loss of life, but for the pilot of my plane and thousands of others, trusting in what the gauges are telling them can allow them to continue on the right course whether they can see or not. The pilot also has to learn how to read and understand the gauges correctly in order for them to be effective. So also we have to learn to read and respond to Gods word and the Holy Spirits leading if we are to remain on course and headed in the right direction.
The second observation I made had to do with the flight controllers already on the ground helping guide the pilot in. These reassuring voices had instruments of their own that could track the plan and assure the pilot that he was on the right course.
Like the pilot, we need to have people in our lives that we can trust to help keep us accountable and ensure we are walking along the right path. If everyone close to you is telling you you’re making poor choices and taking the wrong road, chances are pretty good that you are. Like the traffic controllers, these external voices are already on the ground so to speak and can speak from their own experience and place of leadership to help encourage you on your way.
The final observation I made is that the pilot had past experience to draw from. No doubt he made hundreds or thousands of practice landings before ever taking the lives of passengers in his hands. It’s very likely he has years of experience landing in all types of conditions and those past experience tell him he’s on the right course, just keep trusting the gauges and the voices that are talking him in.
So also we can look at our past experiences and times of deliverance as a means of trusting during times of poor visibility. In my own life, even in just the last three years, there have been numerous moments of uncertainty, confusion and even frustration that lead me to wonder if I was really on the right path.
Looking back now and seeing how each circumstance turned out I can say with confidence that I was on the right path (or God in His grace got me back on track) and this knowledge helps me to continue on in my current state of low visibility.
So that’s it for my analogy. While at times visibility is poor or even non-existent, God has not left us to fend for ourselves and walk completely in the dark. Just like the pilot, we have numerous ways of making sure we are still on the right course and coming in for a smooth landing. Well, the landing may not always be smooth but then again, I bet the pilot would tell you he’s had his fair share of bumpy rides too!
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