Newsletter July 2007
Pull Back On Your Power
Have you ever experienced having a group of people gathered around
you with their hands on your shoulders praying for you? It can
a be a little confusing at times when they are all praying at
the same time so that you can only hear bits and pieces of the
specific things they are praying on your behalf. The classic example
of this is when in one ear someone is saying “let go…”
(meaning to release your problems to God) and in the other ear
another person is encouraging you in their prayer to “hang
on…” (referring to tenaciously clinging to the promises
of God). It would be quite a feat to be able to hang on and let
go at the same time.
I recently received a terrific story written by a friend of mine,
Cathy Carroll, a retired air traffic controller and pilot from
the Washington, DC area about the difficulty we sometimes have
in hanging on when we really need to let go. I will quote excerpts
from her story entitled Pull Back On Your Power that I think pack
a really powerful message about the nature of FAITH. She writes:
“On the last flight before I took the test for my license,
my instructor, Fred Ebert, said, ‘Cathy, remember one thing.
If you ever get into a situation where you lose control of the
airplane and nothing you do helps, pull back on your power and
let go of the stick. The airplane will fly itself.’ “
She continues, “It wasn’t long after that , that
those words saved my life. A few weeks later I was practicing
routine air maneuvers when I found myself in a steep dive. I was
heading for the ground at red-line speed and no amount of pulling
back on the stick helped. I suddenly remembered what Fred said
but it didn’t seem right because if I let go of the stick,
the nose would surely be aimed even more directly into the earth
than it was already. I was running out of time and indeed, pulling
back on the stick didn’t help. At that point, I didn’t
have much to lose, so I pulled back on my power and let go of
the stick, and wonder of wonders, the nose came up and the airplane
was flying as docilely as a lamb. Now I was anything but docile.
One would think I had acquired a severe case of the palsy.”
Years later, while trying to find a way to explain what faith
is to a seeking person, she remembered what her flight instructor
had said and shared with the seeker, that “…faith
is knowing that you don’t have the power to control your
life…trusting that God CAN…and then trusting that
he will.”
There certainly are times when we need to take a couple of wraps
around the rope attached to the unfailing promises of an unfailing
God and HANG ON. And, just a certain to come are the times when
we need to pull back on our power (self reliance) and “LET
GO” of the controls of our life and rest in God’s
wisdom and ability to guide us with precision to a safe landing
at our destination.
God bless you. Pastor Wayne
