Trust your Instruments!

For the past several months, I (David) have been flying an airplane without being able to see what is around me.  I have been in the clouds or flying under the “foggles”…a torturous device that flight instructors have their students wear to limit their vision to just the instruments on the control panel of the airplane.  I have been training to earn my instrument rating.  


 Learning to fly by instruments and learning to read approach plates (printed or electronic charts pilots use to fly instrument procedures to keep them from flying into hard things when they are in weather conditions that limit outside visibility) is akin to learning a foreign language.  I have been studying diligently and recently passed the FAA written exam and am now ready for the oral exam and the checkride that will be administered by an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE). 

Example of an Approach Plate

Elizabeth and I flew down to Martinsville, VA the day before yesterday to meet with my DPE, Barbara Baron.  Barbara was also my DPE a couple of years ago when I earned my Private Pilot Certificate.  Barbara is a no-nonsense, practical, ultra-experienced pilot with over 14,000 hours of flight time and almost every rating available for fixed-wing aircraft.  Barbara has been flying for most of her 80+ years!  She still enjoys getting up in the sky in her biplane.   

As we were discussing what I should expect during the upcoming practical tests, Barbara said that it was her job to make sure I really new the information and could teach it to someone else, not just regurgitate the textbook answer from rote memorization.

This got me to thinking about my walk with the Lord and my knowledge of his Word.  Do I really know the information?  Do I really take it to heart?  Can I effectively teach it to someone else without giving him or her the “textbook” answer?  Do I trust it?!  

You see, in instrument flying, you have to trust the instruments.  There are vestibular and somatogravic illusions that are caused by linear acceleration when external references are unavailable or unreliable….oops, there I go with another textbook answer.  What I mean to say is that while your body and mind may be telling you one thing, the airplane is doing something else.  You should always trust your instruments. Tragically, there are many, many reports of airplane crashes where pilots did not follow this primal law. 

As a Christian, the Holy Bible is our instrument.  If we trust the Bible, we will keep our wings level and landing gear under us, if we don’t, we can fall into a deadly illusion.  Our body or mind may tell us that what we are doing is good or right, but we may just be in a graveyard spiral, out of control, but not knowing it until we become a smoking hole in the ground. 

Father, help me to trust you completely and not rely on my own intuition.  Thank you Lord for the gift of your instrument for life, the Bible.  Help me to read, understand, and to be able to effectively share it with those around me.  Lord, I pray for the roughly 180 million people who still do not have the Scriptures in their own language.  They are flying through life with no instruments!  Father, I pray for the missionaries that are working diligently to translate, publish, and deliver your Word to these, your people.  I pray that you will tear down the strongholds in lands where your Word is not welcome.  Amen.