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Written by Robert Worsham
You’ve filed a flight plan and are on your way. But are you ready to accept course corrections in order to ensure that you arrive safely at your final destination?
What part does God play in our lives?
The other day, I happened to see one of those bumper stickers that proclaim, “God is my copilot.”
After some reflection on that statement, I realized that it’s not a very accurate description of what our relationship with God should be. I’ve heard others say in rebuttal, “Well, God is my pilot.” But I concluded that is not very accurate either.
You see, if we view God as our copilot, then we seem to be saying that we feel we are in control and that God is just there by our side to help us out when something goes wrong. Yet, if we say that we view God as our pilot, then we seem to be saying that God is in control of every move that we make—and we’re just along for the ride. Neither of these are good analogies for what should be our proper relationship with God.
In keeping this same aviation-related theme, perhaps a more accurate analogy would be the incredibly trusting relationship that has to exist between a pilot and the air traffic controller.
Just as God has given us all free will to make all of our decisions and choices, the pilot is in complete control of his aircraft. He can direct it wherever he wishes, to the best of his ability. However, the controller has a unique vantage point. He can look far ahead of what the pilot alone can see and detect dangers in the pilot’s current heading. He can easily guide him around them—via course corrections—if the pilot follows the controller’s instructions exactly.
Our dangerous flight plan
As we pilot ourselves through the dangerous areas of this life, Satan ensures that there are all sorts of problems, trials and obstacles in our path. We can be driven off course by high winds, racked by turbulence, become confused when enveloped in a fog, make simple mistakes and unknowingly head straight into violent storms.
Fortunately, God can guide us around or through all of these dangers if we will only remain humble, trust Him, explicitly follow His instructions (contained within His Bible) and accept His corrections.
Christ plainly tells us in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” If we truly love God, we are going to trust Him enough to strive to follow His instructions to the letter. He truly does love us and only wants to help us and protect us from certain destruction at the hands of Satan. However, we can only be protected if we are humble enough to obey God’s instructions and even plead with Him to correct us—even when we think we’re right.
Notice that Proverbs 3:12 tells us, “For whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.” We have to continually ask God for His corrections; otherwise, we may find ourselves flying nose first into a mountainside. Course corrections may go completely against what we want, but they truly are God’s way of showing us that He loves us and only wants to protect us from Satan.
Arriving safely
The evil world around us is akin to a dark, foggy night, and we are flying blindly through it. Our only hope is the calm, loving voice of our Father providing us with much-needed instructions and corrections all along the way (2 Timothy 3:16).
If we fail to heed Him and instead choose to go our own way, our journey will end in certain destruction. However, if we remain faithful to Him, hear His words, obey all of His instructions and commands and honestly seek His corrections, we will surely and safely arrive at our final destination—eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
Robert Worsham, along with his wife, Linda, and their children, attends the Roanoke, Virginia, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association.
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