Control Tower!

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

Everything in the heavens and the earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore You as being in control of everything. 1 Chronicles 29:11 from The Living Bible

Years ago in preparing for an International flight, I became a little nervous thinking about pilots and how they handle these long flights especially over the ocean. Several of my friends are flight attendants, and even though they assured me that it was routine, all kinds of scenarios played in my mind.

Just as many passengers, I assumed that the pilots fly the plane for the entire duration of the flight. After all, isn’t that why we have them in the cockpit behind a locked door? In my research, however, it was stated that pilots actually only “fly” the plane from ten to fifteen per cent of the time. They do the takeoff, get the plane to a certain altitude, do their flight check, and turn on auto pilot. If all goes well, then about 2000 feet from the landing approach, they disengage the auto pilot and land the plane. The rest of the flight is controlled by the Flight Management System and the Air Traffic Control tower. (My pilot friends might disagree, just relaying my information). The pilots are irreplaceable, but with the advent of computers, the Control Tower is actually in control.

That certainly doesn’t exclude emergencies such as US Airways Flight 1549 whose Captain Sully was trained and capable of making manual decisions and piloting planes in emergencies. His expertise saved all 155 passengers on board after ditching the plan in the Hudson. There are many other stories of heroic pilots and crew as well.

Randy’s grandmother only flew once to my knowledge. On that flight, the pilot walked down the aisle welcoming passengers while the plane was in flight, and when he got to her, she said, “Oh, Honey, thank you, but who are you?” When he informed her that he was the pilot, she said, “Oh Lord help us! If you are here, who, pray tell, is flying this plane?” This is a perfect example of how we want to be sure we know who is in control of everything in our lives, and how we sometimes fall to pieces if we don’t know the details.

Who’s in control of this life? We are only human, and we like to think and believe that we are in control of our lives, but the fact is that there are a multitude of things out of our control. Life has a way of throwing obstacles in our way which we can’t control. The good news for Christians is, just like the pilot, we may be in the cockpit, but God is in the control tower.

When we are spinning out of control, there are three things that we might need to remember about God’s control.

First, because God is in control, we can rest in the promise that He has a plan for our lives. There is an old saying, life is what happens while we are busy making plans. Who hasn’t made plans only to have them changed? We all have those things which aren’t planned occur, but if we take the time to include God in the plans we make, He will direct us to His plan for our lives.

Next, because God is in control, He has a purpose for us. Problems and hardships come and go in our life most of the time seemingly without a purpose. However, in hindsight, we can see how God has used them to get us to the place and use us for the purpose for which He has designed us. Our response should be to look past the pain to see God’s ultimate purpose for us.

Finally, God is in control, and He answers prayers. Every prayer we pray has an impact because God hears every one. When a prayer is uttered, angelic forces are dispatched from heaven. There is a confidence in knowing that if we approach God asking for anything according to His will, He will answer. It might not always be the answer we want, but we honor Him when we tell him exactly what we need and trust Him with the rest!

If we trust God’s plan, believe in His purpose, and trust Him to answer our prayers, He blesses us with opportunities to become creative. He helps us to change our attitude and know that God has us.

The more we believe in His control, the more we relinquish our control. God is in the control tower!

Oh Lord our God the Majesty and Glory of You name, transcends the earth and fills the heavens. O Lord our God little children praise you perfectly, And so would we. And so would we. Linda Lee Johnson