It’s The Pilot!

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Proverbs 3:5 from The Message

Sometimes the hype over an event or happening is so great that we just have to see it for ourselves to believe it. In this case, it was a movie. It has been a long time since a movie has struck such a positive chord with me, not only for entertainment value, but also for relevance to the times in which we live. It’s hard to believe that it’s been thirty six years (1986) since Top Gun hit the theatres and became such a popular movie. The country was grieving the loss of the Challenger astronauts, the Iran Contra Affair, and economic scares, so a movie which highlighted our country and its brave men and women was a reason to celebrate.

Likewise, the timing of Top Gun 2, Maverick has come out at a time when our country is suffering from inflation, shortages, gun violence, threats of national security, and fighting among our leaders. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded that although times, culture, and values may seemingly change, the truths from which we glean our heritage does not.

It was easy to identify with the changes in the generations, attitudes, and appearances of those people we remember vividly from the 1986 movie. Some changes are hardly noticeable physically, some are very sad, and some such as the attitudes of a younger generation can just make you wonder when we lost respect for our older generation and all their contributions.

In the movie, Maverick is like many of us as we grow older and our career goals or plans change because of circumstances beyond our control. We can find ourselves facing an uncertain future while dealing with circumstances or confronting mistakes or decisions that we have made in the past. We begin to wonder if we have any mission or purpose in life. Things can change just as quickly for us as it did for Maverick in the movie. He was called out of his safe place and picked to train a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has seen.

Maverick’s purpose was to energize, motivate, encourage, evaluate, and ultimately pick the best from the candidates to whom he was assigned. There are many quotes from the movie which rang true with me, but one keeps coming back to my mind almost every day. The men were doubting the ability of the F-18 fighter jet to execute the requirements of the mission at hand, when Rooster reminds Maverick, “It’s not the plane, it’s the pilot”. This is the perfect analogy as we move through life’s ups and downs. It’s not the situation, it’s who’s in charge of the situation.

It’s become obvious to me that how we handle our situation depends on whether we think God is our pilot or our co-pilot. In other words, who is flying this plane of life? Is it God or are we doing it ourselves? If God is our co-pilot as the motto states, then it infers that He’s piloting just in case we can’t handle everything ourselves. A marquee on a local church once declared, “If God is your co-pilot, change seats!”

If God is just our co-pilot, we will live in a constant state of anxiety thinking everything depends on us. We will also let our outlook on life be dictated by our surroundings or by our critics. Without the pilot, we will be a slave to the opinion of others rather than being secure in our faith and God’s plan.

On the other hand, when God is our pilot, things will happen to correct wrong doings. Instead of looking for someone to blame, it’s important to try and see the hand of God at work in our situation. When God is at work in us we can begin to see things happen. First, our future isn’t in the hands of others, it’s in the hand of God. Secondly, wherever God wants us to be, He will put us there. Finally, our God given assignment doesn’t call for the approval of everyone, but it does require our cooperation.

If God is our pilot, no one can prevent God from using us, blessing us, and giving us success except our own doubts and fears. Steven Huang says, “I can see God working through the heartache, and I have learned many lessons from what I have experienced. He needed to get my attention to show me where I needed to be.” It’s all about the pilot.

Let the pilot, pilot! It’s the only way to fly!

Jesus Savior, pilot me over life’s tempestuous sea; Unknown waves before me roll, Hiding rock and treacherous shoal. Chart and compass come from Thee, Jesus Savior, pilot me. Edward Hopper