Guidance

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.

Lost

Valerie Cullers 39 Comments

Several years ago, my husband wanted to go out in the woods and use his compass to find a lake. We didn’t take a lot of provisions with us or a flashlight because we were just going to hike in and out during the daytime. We also did not tell anyone where we were going, so off we went. Instead of taking the road to the lake, we parked the car a few miles from the lake, and my husband looked at his map and took a compass heading. We followed that heading through the woods until we reached the lake. It took a few hours to get in, but all in all, it was a successful venture. 

We decided to follow the road back to the car and began to walk. What we didn’t know was that the road forked a little bit north of us, and that the road we were on was not the one we thought it was. After a while, we realized that the road was not taking us back to the car. We talked about what we should do since it was going to be dark in about an hour. We decided to backtrack to the place we left from at the lake. We would then follow the compass heading through the woods back to the car.

person holding compass

Photo by Valentin Antonucci on Pexels.com

By the time we got to the lake, it was getting dark. Remember, my husband did not have a flashlight with him. In order to get out, he had me walk fifteen or twenty feet ahead of him. He would take a compass heading and have me move until I was in line with it. He would then come and stand where I was, and then I would walk another fifteen or twenty feet. We did that for the next few hours. I would walk ahead, and he would take the heading. I would move until I was on that heading, he would walk up to where I was standing, and we would do it all over again. Over and over we did those same repetitious steps. 

The moon rose higher and illuminated the woods. I felt better about it, but knew we were “lost,” and so I kept repeating Bible verses to myself, holding onto whatever I could until we got out of the woods. My husband wasn’t worried at all because he trusted the compass and knew that if we followed it, eventually we would come out of the woods by the car.

Finally, the woods cleared and we saw the road. We came out of the woods within about fifteen yards of the car. To say I was greatly relieved is an understatement. But I did learn something that day; I can trust the compass, and even if I don’t know where I am. The compass will always point me in the right direction. 

That experience was a great life lesson for me, both practically and spiritually. We, as finite humans, will sometimes find ourselves in situations where we feel we are lost in the woods. We cannot see our way out, and it feels dark. We need to remember that our sense of direction will lie to us, our emotions will lie to us, but our compass will never lie to us. If we keep our eyes on the Lord (the compass) and check with the map (the Word), we will be able to walk in the right direction, and eventually we will get out of the situation we are in. We must learn not to rely on what we think is happening around us and try to find our own way out of whatever situation we are in. The book of Proverbs has a few great verses that explain this principle:  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3: 5-6.

For me…lesson learned…trust the Compass!

It’s Summer, and I am going to reblog a few of my outdoor posts!

Lost

Valerie Cullers 20 Comments

Several years ago, my husband wanted to go out in the woods and use his compass to find a lake. We didn’t take a lot of provisions with us or a flashlight because we were just going to hike in and out during the daytime. We also did not tell anyone where we were going, so off we went. Instead of taking the road to the lake, we parked the car a few miles from the lake, my husband looked at his map, and took a compass heading. We followed that heading through the woods until we reached the lake. It took a few hours to get in, but all in all, it was a successful venture. 

We decided to follow the road back to the car and began to walk. What we didn’t know was that the road forked a little bit north of us, and that the road we were on was not the one we thought it was. After a while, we realized that the road was not taking us back to the car. We talked about what we should do since it was going to be dark in about an hour. We decided to backtrack to the place we left from at the lake. We would then follow the compass heading through the woods back to the car.

person holding compass

Photo by Valentin Antonucci on Pexels.com

By the time we got to the lake, it was getting dark. Remember, my husband did not have a flashlight with him. In order to get out, he had me walk fifteen or twenty feet ahead of him.  He would take a compass heading and have me move until I was in line with it. He would then come and stand where I was, and then I would walk another fifteen or twenty feet. We did that for the next few hours. I would walk ahead,  and he would take the heading. I would move until I was on that heading, he would walk up to where I was standing, and we would do it all over again. Over and over we did those same repetitious steps. 

The moon rose higher and illuminated the woods. I felt better about it, but knew we were “lost” and so I kept repeating Bible verses to myself, holding onto whatever I could until we got out of the woods. My husband wasn’t worried at all because he trusted the compass and knew that if we followed it, eventually we would come out of the woods by the car.

Finally, the woods cleared, and we saw the road. We came out of the woods within about fifteen yards of the car. To say I was greatly relieved is an understatement. But I did learn something that day; I can trust the compass, and even if I don’t know where I am. The compass will always point me in the right direction. 

That experience was a great life lesson for me, both practically and spiritually. We, as finite humans, will sometimes find ourselves in situations where we feel lost in the woods. We cannot see our way out of it, and it feels dark. We need to remember that our sense of direction can lie to us, our emotions can lie to us, but our compass will never lie to us. If we keep our eyes on the Lord (the compass) and check with the map (the Word), we will be able to walk in the right direction, and eventually we will get out of the situation we are in. We must learn not to rely on what we think is happening around us and try to find our own way out of whatever situation we are in. The book of Proverbs has a few great verses that explain this principle:  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3: 5-6.

For me…lesson learned…trust the Compass!