Plane Truth

My husband, Brent, is a private pilot.

He owns a small plane.

I don’t like to fly.

I don’t like to fly because I am afraid the plane is going to fall out of the sky.  It never has yet…but I’m just waiting. 

So…when I do acquiesce to the occasional time-saving flight over the earth, I am always rather tense.  This anxiety does not a pleasant flight make.  In fact, because I am on edge while in the airplane, every little bump or dip scares the living daylights out of me.  Brent, the ever calm and confident super pilot, always reaches over to my rigid leg when this bumpiness occurs and says, “Relax.  Turbulence is not dangerous.”

And you know what? He’s right.  Turbulence is not dangerous.  It is just the wind currents jostling the plane—just like gentle waves rock a boat or gravel makes your car tires bounce.  Turbulence, like it or not, is a pretty normal happening when you are speeding through the air in a small fiberglass vehicle. 

Turbulence feels dangerous to me. Turbulence makes me feel like the plane is out of control.  It makes me doubt the power of the mighty engines…or the speedy propeller…or even the natural lift of the air beneath the craft.  I have not made peace with turbulence yet because I don’t really believe in the power of the airplane and the physics of flight—but I’m working on it.

Turbulence in my life feels dangerous too.  When things get beyond the point that I can comprehend; when I feel like the earth might drop out from under me, I begin to get tense.  I get anxious because it’s hard for me to believe that God has everything under control.  It’s difficult for me to comprehend that this uncomfortable rocking could be achieving God’s purposes.  I can’t relax because I don’t really believe that God is good—(whoa, do I dare say that?!) but I’m working on it. 

Here’s what I know;  the more time I spend soaking in God’s word and basking in His presence, the more I trust Him when turbulence hits.  The more I learn about His character from books, and sermons, and faithful followers, the more honored He becomes  in my eyes.  And the greater awareness that I gain about my Father, the more awed I am that He saved me. 

He is trust-worthy. 

I am His child. 

And…turbulence is not dangerous.

Believe it.

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

2 Corinthians 4:17