Plane Truth

It was about 19 years ago my oldest son and I rented a small plane. It was Mother’s Day and she wanted to see Graceland up in Memphis TN. My oldest boy was a pilot, so it was convenient to lease a plane. My youngest daughter, and my wife, myself and of course my son the pilot loaded up and took off from beautiful Pensacola FL. We departed early enough so we could get back to Pensacola before dark. We arrived and was having such a fun time together that we left the time get away and the first thing we knew it was dark. No big deal it just extended our lease time a few hours. The four of us was exhausted but we loaded back up and hit the skies. My boy was flying the plane and I was in the right seat with a set of headphones on so we could talk and hear the towers. My wife and daughter fell asleep in the back seat. We were cruising at close to eight thousand feet. It was a very dark night but no adverse weather. The plane was on auto pilot and the conversation finally reduced to just a few words now and again. The ride was smooth and calm, and I was setting there thinking about how blessed I was to be with my family and having such a great time. Finally, I was overcome by sleep. I don’t know how long I was sleeping but suddenly we hit an isolated storm cloud. It felt like driving in a car and hitting a deer. I woke up instantly and ask my son what happened? I could tell he was stressed. He replied, “Dad I can’t talk right now.” I said we are all OK, he replied NO WE ARE IN TROUBLE. We were somewhere over the rich black farmland of Mississippi. I continued trying to talk to him, but it was like I didn’t even exist. He just kept staring at the gauges on the dashboard. I had a flashlight and was trying to see anything outside the plane. It looked to me like everything was fine. It was very dark that night, but I thought we was still flying straight. I stuck my hand under my seat belt to see if we were upside down, but still had a few inches of slack so again I said we are fine. I should have known better because there was a red light flashing and a buzzer just sounding away. Still he never took his eyes off the gauges and would not waste any concentration time on a conversation with me knowing I had no idea what was really going on. It seemed like this went on for an hour but in reality, it was probably only less than a minute. Finally, I could feel a sensation in my stomach and the flashing stopped and the buzzer quit. My boy looked at me and said NOW WE ARE SAFE. He exclaimed to me I was in total vertigo. We were upside down headed for the ground. I ask about the seat belts and he said we was flying faster toward the earth than you would if you were just falling. Essentially, I was being pushed into my seat and didn’t know it. After safely returning home, some weeks later I was doing a little Bible Study. I was reading in Proverbs 14:12  

12 There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

For some reason that scripture kept coming up in my mind. I remembered the night in the plane. I kept telling my son, we are OK everything is fine. Everything felt so right. It even looked like I could see the sky, but it was the ground and we was headed for certain death. So many times, in life it seems like everything is right because it feels good. But it can be such a fatal mistake to trust in yourself or whatever feels right. I ask myself, what saved us that night? If it was me flying the plane all would have been lost. I remembered my son never taking his eyes off the gauges. He wouldn’t even talk; nothing broke his concentration until we were safe. Even though everything felt right or seemed right, he knew by watching the gauges that we were headed for a crash. The Bible is your life gauges, there is a scripture in Proverbs 3:5 -6

5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Thank God for his direction. He wants to guide you through both, the storms of this life, and the storms of this earth. He is faithful and true and He Loves You.

Greg      IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL