A young and foolish pilot wanted to
sound cool and show who was boss on
the aviation frequencies. It was his
first time approaching a field during
the night time.
Instead of making any official requests
to the tower, he said: "Guess who?"
The controller switched the field lights
off and replied: "Guess where!"
It important for a pilot to be able to
see the place where he is landing!
There is a true story about a pilot who
was flying a fighter jet in bad weather
and was about to make his instrument
approach to an airport. The air traffic
controller called and asked how much
fuel he had. -- “Plenty,” he said.
“Well,” the controller said, "We’ve got
a little problem. There’s a young pilot
who is not instrument rated. He’s lost
in the clouds, and we were wondering
if you could intercept him and lead him
back to the airport."
“Sure,” the pilot responded. He found
the lost plane and pulled up beside it.
He called on the radio and told the
pilot to look out to his left. When the
pilot of this small plane saw the
powerful jet, he burst into tears of
relief. As far as he was concerned, his
life was about over. He would soon run
out of fuel and crash.
“Don’t worry,” the test pilot said.
“Everything’s going to be OK. I’m going
to pull in front of you several hundred
yards. Do everything I do. When I
turn, I’ll turn gently. All you have to do
is do exactly what I do.”
So carefully the leader and the
follower turned toward the airport and
slowly descended. When they finally
broke through the clouds at 500 feet,
the frightened pilot saw the most
beautiful sight. There in front of him
was the runway, and he was perfectly
set up to land. What a blessing that the
young pilot had someone nearby that
he could look to!
There's a story in the Bible where an
ancient king of Judah must have felt
that same sense of relief.
Jehoshaphat's kingdom was being
threatened by the armies of Ammon,
Moab, "and others" (2 Chronicles
20:1). In fact, those armies were so
large and so strong, Judah didn't stand
a chance of surviving an assault. There
seemed to be nothing Jehoshaphat
could do about it, so he turned to God
(which, incidentally, is not such a bad
place for us to find ourselves!).
Eventually, God rescued the people of
Judah by causing the armies of the
enemy to turn on one another. But it is
the prayer of Jehoshaphat that I think
is so valuable. In fact, I think this may
become my favorite verse in the
Bible:..
"For we have no power against this
great multitude that is coming against
us; nor do we know what to do, but
our eyes are on You." (2 Chronicles
20:12)
Is there a problem you're facing in
your life that just seems
overwhelming? Pray along with
Jehoshaphat -- "God, I don't know
what to do, but my eyes are on you!"
Do you have a difficult decision to
make and you don't know which
course to take? "God, I don't know
what to do, but my eyes are on you!"
Are you suffering the attacks of
enemies, those who would seek to do
you harm? "God, I don't know what to
do, but my eyes are on you!" Pray it
today and pray it often.
Alan Smith