Flying by your instruments
Today I sat in my closet with my back against the wall. The wall where my laundry basket usually sits, but today it's where I sit, exhausted from a long week, no, a long season. Looking at my husband, who also feels exhausted I said, "Sometimes I want to give up and run away!""I hear ya." He said, "I feel the same way sometimes but we can't."I really do try to practice what I preach to the kiddos and choose to choose joy and count my blessings when I feel like complaining, but the waves of chaos and reality seem to come like birthing contractions one after another after another until it becomes unbearable."We just can't." He says, pausing now to look at me sitting like a pitiful pile of laundry. "We need to get up, get back in the fight and be strong. They need us to be strong there is no other choice." Then that was the end of our conversation. Maybe because chaos ensued outside the closet or maybe because He spoke the truth and there was no more to say. ( He has a tendency to do that!)But I still felt like the sky was falling; like I had emotional vertigo.Have you ever felt that way?A wise friend taught me one time how to "fly by my instruments." Meaning, what do I know to be true when things feel topsy turvy? At times it can feel as though your plane is upside down with zero visibility and sometimes it actually is. The good news is that we can learn to read God's control panel and trust it. Even if it doesn't feel like it, the control panel is the reality not your feelings.I don't know anything about airplanes but I can assume that it must take much practice to successfully fly and land a plane with confidence and assurance. I also know that the pilot and the co-pilot must trust the instruments. They most certainly can not freak out! (Can you imagine?) They can not loose their cool, give up or run away. That would. not. be. good! Too many people count on them and are trusting them to fly this plane in the direction they promised. This pilot and co-pilot are currently hiding out in the cockpit (read closet) kinda freaking out!I prefer to think of it as a meeting of the minds where we had to remind each other that "We got this!"As Christians, The Word of God is our control panel and we must draw strength from it daily. What God has to say IS ACTUALLY the TRUTH not how I'm feeling or what the circumstances might look like. I confess that there are days when I say, "Yep, this plane is definitely upside down! I am sure of it." But wait! What does my instrument panel say? It may confirm my suspicions and help me get back on track. Or quench my fear and calm me down reassuring me that everything is as it should be. But I will never know unless I look to the word of God as my instrument panel.What does He have to say about your life, your fears, your struggles and doubts?I WILL walk by faith and not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7I WILL be a city on a hill and a swinging lantern in a dark valley. Matthew 5:14I WILL lift up my eyes to the hills-- My help comes from the Lord. Psalm 121:1I WILL fear no evil. Psalm 23:4I WILL hide in the shadow of his wings. Psalm 57:1I WILL lie down in green pastures. Psalm 23:2I WILL be strong and courageous. Joshua 1:9I WILL draw near to God and he will draw near to you. James 4:8I KNOW THAT everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:13)I KNOW the plans God has for me plans to prosper me and give me a future Jeremiah 29:11I KNOW THAT greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4I KNOW THAT the Lord will accomplish what concerns me. Ps 138:8I KNOW THAT the Lord works all things together for good. Romans 8:28I KNOW THAT I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13I KNOW THAT He hears my prayers and answers. Ps 66:19them above and beyond all I could ever dare think or ask.Ephesians 3:20I KNOW THAT one day in they courts is better than an thousand outside.Psalm 84:10I KNOW That the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5 :22I KNOW THAT Jesus reigns, and we win! God lives and is on the throne and is on my side and is for me. If God is for me who can be against me. Romans 8:31I KNOW THAT The promises of God are YES AND AMEN! 2 Corinthian 1:20REMEMBER My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Ps 121:1-2REMEMBER He is my healer ( and my children's healer). Hebrews 13:8REMEMBER The heart is deceitful above all else. Jeremiah 17:9 (so look to the control panel!)REMEMBER REMEMBER The joy of the Lord is my strength. Ps 5 :11REMEMBER: I have overcome the world. John 16:33REMEMBER to smile and even laugh at the future. Proverbs 31:25THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE INSTRUMENTS ON MY CONTROL PANEL. ( feel free to borrow!)I confess and confess and cling to God's Word until I am convinced of it's truth and or I see the horizon and the light and the truth of the matter and my sanity is restored. And then I feel a bit silly when I realize that I was "A-OK" the whole time. After a few times of this you will learn to calmly cling to your instruments like, " Ok, Ok….. here we go, steady now girl!" Kind of like the second baby, you are prepared for the contractions and aware of how they will feel and how long they will last and you know the truth of the matter is that great blessings come out of great pain.Hey, I imagine even seasoned pilots have their white knuckle moments. It's ok because no matter what we may be going through, the Word of God is constant and does not waiver.He is my rock, and my firm foundation. He wins and saves the day, and lands the plane! Every time!You were not upside down at all, not at all, not for one minute.
For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone.Psalm 91:11,12