This is the second in a series of blogs on Truth as a part of the Armor of God.
Many years ago, I had the opportunity to fly an F-14 Tomcat. At the time it was the Navy's newest state of the art fighter aircraft. Once inside the cockpit, with the canopy closed, the realism was overwhelming.
The instructor asked if I would like to try an automatic landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier. He told me that the airplane would fly itself and all I had to do was sit in the cockpit and watch. "Why not" I said, and the airplane began a landing sequence about eight miles away from the ship.
As I watched, I was amazed at the grace with which the airplane maneuvered. Since I was only watching, I had time to scan each of the many cockpit instruments which inform the pilot of the airplane's condition. With uncanny ease, the airplane made its way toward the aircraft carrier. If a gust of wind pushed the airplane off course, the automatic landing system applied the necessary corrections to bring the airplane back on course. During the last ten seconds before touchdown, the automatic landing system even made corrections for the aircraft carrier as it bobbed up and down in the water and landed the airplane on the carrier deck in synchronization with the ship's motion.
"That looks so easy" I said to the instructor. Without hesitation I asked if I could try landing the airplane myself. Soon I was on my way again, and this time the automatic landing system was turned off. At first all was well, and I felt confident as the airplane responded to my commands. Then, as I watched the instruments, the airplane began descending too fast. I pulled back on the stick to slow down the decent and then noticed that the air speed was slowing down, so I increased engine power to speed up. Each time I made a correction to solve one problem, another problem soon developed.
Soon I realized that maneuvering 60,000 pounds of airplane was not an easy task! Beads of sweat began to form on my forehead as the airplane became more difficult to control. The immediate concern became to keep the airplane in the air, even if it wasn't graceful, and landing on that carrier deck was the farthest thing from my mind. I was so preoccupied with looking at each instrument and trying to make corrections for the problems I saw, that I lost track of where the airplane was. I eventually crashed into the ocean three miles short of the ship.
I thank the Lord it was only a training simulator!
As I look back on that experience, it reminds me how unprepared I was to fly that airplane. Yet, as hard as it was to accept, a computer did a better job of it than I did. In comparing that experience to navigating the many relationships, situations, and decisions in my life I ask where is the computer that can help guide me through it all? There are many things in our world that are true and many things that are false. How do we know for sure what is true or false in every case? How do we decide? Who can we trust to help us in making those decisions? In addition, the world tries to make truth relative so they can bend it as they desire. This makes understanding real truth much more difficult in each situation we face.
However, as our creator, Jesus Christ is the absolute truth reference. Therefore, our relationship with Jesus Christ needs to be like turning on that automatic landing system. Just like that computer knew how to fly that airplane, Jesus Christ knows us better than we do, and He knows what is best for each of us. When we allow Jesus Christ to control our life there is peace and grace in everything we do. But when we try to control our life, we unknowingly create problems for ourselves which will ultimately result in disorder, and even ruin. The Bible states this truth well in Proverbs 14:12 with, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.”
Recognizing that Jesus Christ is the real truth, and then choosing to accept it, is a step every believer must make in their lordship journey. Accepting this truth focuses our view of the world around us in a direction that seeks guidance from Jesus Christ. With Him in control our life will fly with peace and grace in everything we do; shaken not stirred.
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All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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