Turbulence!

          I recently listened to Tyler Perry share about his fear of flying. He was so afraid of flying that in order to get to the various cities where he had engagements he would use his bus which, of course, depending on how far he had to go, would take a few days. Finally, realizing that his fear was being a hindrance to God’s call on his life, he got his pilot’s license and bought his own aircraft. Before flying the plane on his own, he decided to take a trip with the salesman to ensure that he could comfortably do so. On his second trip with him, they encountered some turbulence. Immediately, he panicked and begged the salesman to land the plane. But the man refused and instead told him to hold on for a bit. 
         Now let’s be real for a minute. When faced with a turbulent situation, the first thing we usually want to do is get out of it. We don’t want to stick around to find out how it all ends, especially when we feel as if the situation will make an end of us. Like Tyler, we want to “land the plane,” we want to get to a place of safety. We don’t want to go through the pain, the heat, the pressure, we just want to get out! We pray and ask God to remove the problem, we ask Him to get us out of the trial, because we are absolutely sure that we are not going to make it. 
         I’m pretty sure that’s how Tyler felt. Yet, his co-pilot, the salesman, told him to hang on for a minute. Those are not exactly the words I am sure he wanted to hear, but sometimes it seems as if that is exactly what God is saying to us in the midst of troubling situations: “Hold on a minute, don’t panic.” It can be so difficult to hear God speaking when all around us our world seems to be falling apart. Yet, even in the midst of dire circumstances, God may still be saying to us, “Hold on a minute, don’t panic, just trust Me.” 
         Right after the salesman told him to hold on for a minute the voice of the air traffic controller came through their headphones telling them to “climb.” They were not alone in their situation! There was someone there with experience to guide them to safety! The fact was that they could not see the air traffic controller but he could see them on his radar. He could see if another plane was coming their way and guide the two planes away from each other; he could warn them of bad weather and guide them through it; and he could guide them to climb high and safe enough to avoid turbulence! It’s pretty much the same with God. We can’t see Him but He sees us. He knows when danger is coming and can skillfully guide us away from it or through it depending on which would benefit us more. 
        We are NEVER alone. The One with way more experience than us, is right there to give guidance and direction when we need it. And even though they could not see the air traffic controller they could hear his voice. We too may not be able to see God but we can hear His voice, sometimes simply reminding us of what His Word is saying to us as we go through that turbulence: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b); “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17a); “You will not die but live and declare the works of the Lord” (Psalms 118:17); “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Yes, God has a Word for every situation we find ourselves in.  
         When the air traffic controller’s voice came over the headphones he told them to climb to 6,500 feet and maintain that altitude. As they followed these instructions and climbed higher and higher they soon left the turbulence behind and found themselves in a place of calm. Tyler had to go through that challenge to help him get over his fear of flying. If they had landed prematurely like he had requested, he never would have learned how to skillfully fly in turbulence. And when you think about it, his fear would have continued being a hindrance to what God wanted to do in his life.
          We all have turbulence to face, but we are never alone. God is always right there just a call away if we need any help. We can do like what Tyler tried to do and land the plane before time. We can throw in the towel thinking it’s not worth it. The thing is, if we quit before time, we may never get to experience what God has in store for us. Sometimes, we sabotage our own destinies when we give up too soon. We could miss our place of calm, we could miss the blessings God has for us, we could miss the opportunity to experience a great deliverance and victory just because we landed our plane when turbulence hit instead of simply climbing higher.
          I am convinced that everything we need in turbulent times is at our disposal. God will never leave us ill-equipped or without help. He is still a present help in time of trouble (Psalms 46:1).
          If you have not invited Jesus Christ into your life, I encourage you to do so now. It’s good to know that when troubling times come, we have our own air traffic controller who knows exactly how to guide us to safety.

---