Instrument Rated

Valerie Cullers 13 Comments

When I was a teenager, I had a friend whose uncle had an airplane. We had a lot of fun when he would take us on one of his trips. I really liked flying in a small plane…it was a great way to get where you wanted to go in a hurry! Fast forward to my twenties. I lost a few friends in small plane accidents because they or their pilots were not instrument-rated. Both planes ended up crashing into a mountain. In both accidents, when the search parties found them, no one survived the accidents.

You see, you can be a pilot and not be instrument-rated. You only have clearance to fly in good weather where you can see the horizon and the ground below you. If you get into the “soup,” as pilots say, then it is impossible to determine where you are in relation to the horizon. A person can be flying right side up, but it may seem like they are upside down. Perhaps the most famous incident in recent history is when JFK Jr. crashed when he was flying over the ocean. He was not instrument-rated, and when he became disoriented because of low visibility, he ultimately crashed into the water.

As we move forward in the future, it will be imperative to be instrument-rated in our lives. If we only have a cursory knowledge of God and his word, we can easily become disoriented and crash when events happen around us. Our survival will be dependent upon our skill in the cockpit of life. In order to become instrument-rated, we must become close to the Lord (the Control Tower) and take our guidance from him and his manual (the Bible).

It is fairly easy to become a beginner pilot, but it takes a lot of studying and over a hundred hours in the air to become an instrument-rated pilot. It will be the same for us in order to be instrument-rated in life. We need to spend a considerable amount of time studying his word and walking with the Lord in order to travel safely through what is coming. There may be economic upheaval, natural disasters, and incredible deception just over the horizon. Those who are not instrument-rated will crash and burn, but those who are instrument-rated will be able to follow the manual and handle each situation with an element of peace and a passage of safety that will be elusive to others.

Photo by Michi S. Courtesy of Pixabay.

13 thoughts on “Instrument Rated”

  2. Val I love this. My dad wanted so much to be a pilot. He didn’t qualify for the Air Force but did join the Army. He took private flight lessons. I find in these times we can think we are so “grounded” (trying to avoid puns here) but so many of us are in the fog. I reposted this on my site. Thanks for your level head and great writing.

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    • Thank you so much for your thoughts. I never wanted to fly, I can barely drive :). I don’t have much mechanical ability and all of those gauges make my head spin. For those who can do it…God bless them. The Lord gives me the ideas…I just write them down. I think of you often, hope you are doing well, Meg. Thanks for the reblog.

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  3. Love this post and such a good reminder about being deep rooted in the word and in prayer so that our foundation in God is strong enough such that we are not throw off when the wind hits.

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  5. Very well spoken, Valerie. It is not just in the knowing, though, but it is in applying what we know as each new storm arises in our lives. It is putting what we know into daily practice. And that is every day, one day and one step and one situation at a time.

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