“It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13
By the end of the day, I often become overwhelmed because I start thinking about all of the work that is still not done. Do you ever feel this way? The other day I was beginning to fall into a panic when God directed me to have some time alone with Him. Honestly, I felt so overwhelmed that I didn’t even feel like I could talk with Him because often when I’m in a downward spiral I get disoriented.
But God used this to remind me of a valuable lesson from when I was training to fly fixed wing aircraft.
Pilots are trained on how to correct situations such as a power-on stall which sends the plane into a rapid, spinning fall towards the surface of the earth. A power-on stall occurs when the angle of attack of the wing exceeds its critical angle. One way this happens is when the pilot pulls the nose up too far or tries to cause the aircraft to climb too quickly.
When I was learning to fly, I had to practice it over and over again so I could overcome the panic of a disorienting spinning descent and trust the process of righting the aircraft. Correcting the pitch (and oftentimes the power) of the plane under these conditions was challenging at first. But, after doing it several times it became easier. I learned to depend on the process and put to work both the mechanics of the aircraft and the laws of physics, specifically Newton’s law of motion. Lift, drag, and thrust are the forces which act on an aircraft during flight and allow it to stay airborne. We must know and trust these physical laws.
God, and His laws keep us airborne in life; thus it is critical to know both Him and His ways—and trust Him. It is critical if we want to learn how to pull out of a disorienting dive and avoid a crash.
Jesus taught us:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
John 14:12-14
When we believe in God to the extent we allow Him to control every aspect of our life—we put God to work through us. The evidence we have given God control of our life is when we have the remarkable attitudes of Christ. God is working. Our life produces the fruit of God’s Spirit. God is working. We are strong. God is working. We are wise. God is working. We stay in flight no matter what the storms. God is working.
My friend, God is ready to go to work through us. We must know His Word. We must be born again. We must know Him and then be consistently surrendering all we are to Him. For God to work through us—we must give Him control. Surrender is the real proof we believe in Christ. Surrender leads us to experience doing “ALL things through Christ” because it is truly then—HE who is strengthening us!
“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:11-13
