I’ve flown dozens of times, and I’ve never felt the need to study flying before I got on the plane. Never.
I don’t understand lift and velocity. I’ve never been in a cockpit. Never learned the names of the instruments or what they do. If something happened to the pilot, I’d be the last person you’d want to take over flying that plane. I would have no idea what I was doing.
But…I don’t have to understand the mechanics of flying to reach my final destination. All I have to know is how to buckle my seatbelt and ask for tomato juice and pretzels, and in a matter of minutes (or hours depending on how far I’m going) I could fly somewhere else.
Recently, I flew all the way across the United States (and the Pacific Ocean) to paradise. I had grand plans of working and reading and writing and studying on the flight, but on the leg from Cleveland to San Fran, I had the window seat. That kind of changed my plan.
I loved looking out the window at the scenery. At first there was white. Lots of white. (Lots of snow in Cleveland, which I’m hoping is all melted by the time I get home.) 🙂
But then I saw lots of brown and white ridges in the terrain. I had no idea what it was at first, but then I realized….I was flying over mountains. So cool. I’d never seen mountains from that vantage point. They looked so tiny from the air.
(Some cool shots of the terrain from the air…)
And all I could think for a long time was, “Where am I?” I almost let it distract me trying to figure it out. I even asked Mikel if he knew where we were. I really wanted to know.
I’m guessing we were somewhere over Colorado, but it really doesn’t matter where it was. I didn’t have to know where I was. I wasn’t the one flying the plane.
As long as the pilot and the co-pilot knew where we were, we were A-Okay. I could just sit back with my tomato juice and pretzels and relax and enjoy the ride.
We even hit some turbulence, and I still didn’t need to know how to fly the plane or where I was because even then the pilots had it all under control. They knew what they were dong, thankfully, and we arrived safely in paradise.
And then I thought…why do we feel the need to know? To know exactly what the pilot’s doing and exactly where we are at all times along the journey. On the way to paradise. On the way to our dreams coming to pass.
Why do we feel we need to know every single detail of the trip before we’ll take off? Why can’t we just trust the pilot? Trust that He knows where we are and that He knows what He’s doing? Because He does.
Why can’t we just sit back, buckle up, order our tomato juice and pretzels, and enjoy the ride?
God wants us to reach our paradise even more than we want to get there. And to be honest, we’ll probably get there either way.
Whether we’re relaxed and enjoying the scenery out the window or whether we’re worried about where we are and trying to fly the plane when we don’t know what we’re doing, we’re going to get to our destination.
It’s so much more enjoyable to just relinquish control and let Him do all the heavy lifting (or flying). He really does know what He’s doing. And He has amazing things for you to see and do along the way.
Bon voyage! Take a look out the window…I bet He has some amazing things just waiting for you.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.(Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT)
Place your trust in the Eternal; rely on Him completely;
never depend upon your own ideas and inventions.
Give Him the credit for everything you accomplish,
and He will smooth out and straighten the road that lies ahead.(Proverbs 3:5-6 The Voice)