The Invisible Pilot

Last weekend, Jeff and I were traveling home from vacation. As we sat, waiting to take off, I watched as person after person loaded onto the plane. Wives, mothers, and daughters, Husbands, fathers, and sons. One by one they took their seat, the same as us—the multitude of conversations, laughter, and small talk filled the space around me. But then the pilot’s oration broke through, his voice echoing through the intercom, “This is your captain speaking. The skies are in our favor today, and it should be smooth sailing for our two-and-a-half-hour flight to Charlotte, so buckle up and enjoy the ride. Flight Attendants, prepare for departure.”

In that moment, something struck me differently. Between personal travel and work travel, I’ve flown on tons of occasions, yet this time, an observation I’d never had before disrupted my preflight routine. My mind drifted back to only minutes before when the sea of other passengers had filed past me. Their chaotic clamoring, throwing bags in the overhead bins, edging around each other—all of it the very commonplace hustle and bustle of boarding a plane. Once seated, they each sprang into action with their individual preferences. Some started conversations with those beside them, while others propped their head for a nap. Some linked up their earbuds for a movie, while others pulled out a book and dug in. Some grabbed their laptops and began working, while others fished food from their bag and scarfed down a leftover burger. Their actions so run-of-the-mill, casual undertakings, each one without forethought or design.

As I watched the countless different ways people set out to pass the time, there was one similarity among them—they all moved with an air of certainty. I briefly pondered that, and then it hit me, they were exuding blind faith. Every one of us on that plane was in the hands of some unfamiliar voice that we’d heard over a loudspeaker, trusting him completely to take us to our destination without having even seen him. The pilot sits in the front of the plane, behind closed doors and we know absolutely nothing about him. We don’t know how much sleep he had had the night before, if he’s a good person who actually cares about the souls he’s transporting, or what personal trials he may be enduring that weigh heavy on his mind. I was struck at how easily so many people could casually trust someone with their life whom they’d never even met. It was a consideration that instantly drew a parallel to our trusting of God.

Some say they can’t believe in a God they can’t see, yet 2.9 million people climb onto a plane every single day and hold complete belief in someone they’ve never seen. The pilot’s speech that day contained no promises to keep us safe, there were no reassurances offered, and he did absolutely nothing at all to have to gain our trust. Yet God’s Word is filled with promises. Promises of freedom, inner peace, deliverance, hope, overcoming, healing, grace, and mercy. Promises to never leave us, of joy and everlasting life, and to care for our every need. I was amazed at how easily we exude blind faith in a pilot, literally entrusting our lives to his hands, yet grapple with having full faith in the God of promises.

Even sincere believers can still struggle to fully take our hands off the wheel and trust God. When we’re in the midst of a trial, our thoughts and fears can quickly overwhelm us and take control. Consider Peter. He was a strong believer yet when Jesus called him out of the boat, the minute he took his eyes off of him, he sank. Even someone of his stature and closeness to Jesus struggled to fully trust. 

It can be a real challenge to submit our lives to Him without knowing what’s coming next. In our times of uncertainty, our trust in God wavers and we start questioning what He’s going to do, asking for assurance of what’s going to occur, we want things to happen the way we plan so we lay out our list of demands, and we restrict Him to our deadlines and expectations.  What if instead we tried walking through our circumstance with that same unbridled trust we give to our pilot? With him, we don’t question what he’s going to do during our flight, we don’t give him a list of the things we expect or want, we don’t put conditions on how long he’s going to take, and we don’t expect him to tell us in advance how the flight will go. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.” So, the next time you find your faith beginning to waver, let God take the role of that invisible pilot and you need only to get on board, take your seat, and buckle up for the ride, trusting boldly and blindly that no matter what, He will bring you through to your destination.