Last year for Anthony’s birthday I bought him a flying lesson on a helicopter. Usually I don’t know what to buy him but when I saw this half price deal on groupon for $80 it was a no brainer. It has taken this long for him to find the time to use it, but today was the day! Before he could have the actual 'fun' bit, the flying, he had to have instruction. The pilot had to explain how it works, what Anthony had to do before they took off.
How often do we want the fun bit of life - the 'highs' with God, miracles, the fun 'experience' without going through the 'instruction' side and then wonder why we aren't getting anywhere? It is so obvious that he needed instruction first and one on one time with the pilot before he can even take-off but yet we often neglect the obvious or want to skip that part in our life.
Preflight inspection and instruction.
As the lesson/journey went on, Anthony was trusted to do more when the pilot thought he was ready. God knows when we are ready for something so if he is asking you to do something, and you don’t think you are ready - good, as humility and full reliance on God is vital and He will equip you.
Sometimes if we have been Christians for years, reading the bible, we can become complacent and think we can skip parts that is vital, with excuses to go with it! Anthony flew solo on a small aircraft when he was in the Air Squadron at university. He soon discovered that this was actually a disadvantage as some of the controls on a helicopter are the exact opposite of a plane and a helicopter is much harder to learn how to fly. If he had the attitude that just because he has flown before, ‘and I’ve got this’, he would have had serious trouble! Just because God does something one way in your life, don’t expect the next time to be the same. He wants to stretch us, our faith and perseverance and give us that closeness we desire but we always first have to have a learning, teachable humble heart.
Where are you in life? Are you alone in the cockpit? Or the exact opposite - too scared to get into the helicopter! Maybe you are completely lost, or you have crashed and burned? Wherever you are, the only safe way to travel and be safe is for you to be in the co-pilot seat, and God as the pilot. So check today, where you are and where God is, not just generally in your life but in every situation.
We have lift-off!