May 2 2012
Flying Blind: a Faith Walk
Genesis 15.1-6, 16.1-5, 17.15-21
Pilots are taught to trust their instruments rather than their natural senses. This is especially important at night or in heavy cloud where they cannot see ahead. Often under these conditions pilots experience something called vertigo; the feeling that the aircraft is doing the opposite to what their instruments say. If it happens in a moment of panic a pilot might react with natural instincts and ignore his instruments. This can be disastrous; many pilots have crashed because they did not trust their instruments. Did you ever feel like you were flying blind? Did you know you have spiritual instruments?
♦ Abraham was told to trust his spiritual instruments, God promised he would have a son, but after a long period of waiting everything seemed dark. There was no child and Sarah was getting edgy. Under pressure he put what God had shown him aside and let his natural instincts take over. He took control and arranged a son by sleeping with Sarah’s servant Hagar. Hagar became a problem as did Ishmael; the child that was born. Sound familiar? Did you ever stop believing and start controlling?
When we fear that what God said is not going to happen we start to manipulate; we try to do it our way. This causes unnecessary problems for ourselves and those around us, and can cause us to lose the very thing we are after. This doesn’t just happen with a desire for children, it can also happen with our desire for a partner, a job, anything.
The word ‘manipulate’ means: to control or influence somebody in a dishonest or unfair way in order to get what we want. We don’t believe we will get it the direct route so we try another way. In John 10.1-2 the thief does not go through the gate, he climbs in another way. He does not go the obvious route because he knows he will be rejected. And often it’s when we fear rejection that we start to manipulate and control. If we fear we won’t get the job by telling the truth, we lie. If we fear we might lose the man we want, we arrange to fall pregnant, and try to secure things that way. This is trying to control or influence in a dishonest or unfair way. And when our deception is exposed; we lose what we were after: the person feels manipulated and drops us. When flying in the dark, we must trust our spiritual instruments. God has given us his Word and his Spirit, so we know how to behave when the pressure is on.
Manipulation can be physical, such as beating your wife; or emotional, such as giving your husband ‘the silent treatment’; or spiritual, such as engaging in witchcraft. Emotional manipulation is the most common, spiritual manipulation happens a lot here in Africa. But it’s a dangerous thing to get into; people visiting witchdoctors only end up destroying themselves. Saul visited a witch in a moment of manipulation and ended up taking his life. He had abandoned his spiritual instruments.
Kenya suffers from a culture of manipulation. When it’s hard to do business without bribing you can be sure you are in a culture of manipulation. The extent of manipulation here has even impacted our personal relationships; people think that ‘doing a favour to get a favour’ is a part of normal life. People pretend to be doing something out of the goodness of their hearts, but they are really doing it with the expectation that you will return the favour. But a favour with strings attached is not a favour; and a gift that has a hidden cost is really a sale. We have some serious repenting to do.
I said fear causes us to manipulate, but we have this fear because we stand to lose something we desperately want: our idol. Abraham desired a son so much he was prepared to manipulate to get one; it was his idol. After receiving Isaac, the promised son, God sets Abraham another test. In Genesis 22.1-3, 10-12 God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Ouch! Talk about flying in the dark! But this time Abraham trusts his spiritual instruments; he puts his precious son in God’s hands, and having past the test, God gives Isaac back to him again. The story ends with Abraham’s statement of faith: The Lord will provide! (vs 14) As a pilot, Abraham learnt the hard way.
The only way to destroy the fear of losing your idol is to sacrifice it. Your idol is the thing in life that you want most. God cannot let you have it till you give it up.
In 1 Samuel 24.1-7 David gets it right the first time. God has promised him he will be king, but Saul is king and is hunting him. When David gets the perfect opportunity to reverse things and kill Saul, he refuses to do it. Killing Saul would be taking control; it would be an attempt to make it happen. David spares Saul and trusts God. Saul eventually takes his own life. While flying in the dark, David trusted his spiritual instruments.
If God has spoken he will do it. We are to wait. If he requires us to do something, he will tell us what to do, and what he says will be right and good.
Are you manipulating things? Are you trying to take control? First admit it to yourself and God. Half the battle is won if you can see it in yourself; at least you’re not self-deceived. Next, confess it to those it has affected. That can be hard to do, but it smashes its evil hold. Then give up the idol; whatever it is that has caused you to do it. Lay it at his Jesus’ feet; let him have control; let him bring it to pass. Abraham failed the first test, but passed the second one; so there is hope for all of us.
Do you feel like you’re flying in the dark; trust your spiritual instruments.
Word for Vineyard Mombasa: God wants us to be like sparkling water – pure, transparent, simple, and refreshing to all around us.
Illustrations: The aircraft that almost wasn’t; A crush goes horribly wrong; A diving footballer; A nice leather jacket; A man’s best friend; Sparkling water; Laying down your weapon.
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May 2, 2012 @ 4:04 pm
It came just at the right time.God has spoken 2me,the waiting period seems like forever&its like i was helping Him accomplish it…But i thank God that i don av 2make it work,i only need trust fully&obey whatever He says.
May 2, 2012 @ 7:30 pm
MORE THAN COINCIDENCE: As is obvious, my main sermon illustration this day was about pilots trusting their instruments. At tea time after the service I greeted a visiting couple from Nairobi. He introduced himself as ‘Captain’. I said ‘’Captain of what’?’’ He said he was a pilot for Jetlink. He just happened to be visiting that Sunday. He went on to confirm all I said. What are the chances of that happening?!!
May 2, 2012 @ 10:47 pm
I went through alot of manipulation. I did not know it was manipulation but now i understanding it. This is a big revelation to me. I was kept captive for a long time. My friend Bettina Schlereth told me that it was manipultion but i did not understand it but now i get what she was telling me. For sure i was flying blind. God Bless you Gary for that word.
May 15, 2012 @ 11:55 am
It’s true that when in the dark we become disoriented and need to understand the dangers of ‘flying blind’. But it’s also true that we are designed to be in the light. We are fundamentally intended to be creatures of the day, not creatures of the night.
Physically, our eyes are adapted to seeing well in bright light, and our instincts are to stay in places that are well lit. Spiritually we need to stay in the light that Christ provides abundantly for us.
Consider Saul (Paul) on the road to Damascus, in darkness because the light had blinded him. In his temporary darkness he had to fly by spiritual instruments – he had to go where he was told to go and wait for healing. And in due course he was restored to seeing.
But now Paul was in the light not just physically, but spiritually too. Now, instead of persecuting followers of the Way he supported them and publicly spoke the truth about Jesus. The same Jesus who said, ‘I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.’ (John 12:46)
The great thing is to behave appropriately. When we are in the light we can see and act on that basis. But if we’re in the dark we had better not assume we know the way forward. We must learn discernment to know when we are ‘in the dark’ spiritually.
May 17, 2012 @ 3:12 pm
Thanks for that Chris. Thats a nice addition. I nearly included the example of Paul in my sermon. Putting our two thoughts together I would say: This world is continuelly dark but we are called to live in the light. If we are always in tune with God, we are always in that light, even in a dark world. And the reason it appears light is because of our spiritual instruments; we have God’s eyes.
Coincidence or God-incidence?
July 11, 2012 @ 10:14 am
[…] a number of God-incidences; some more obvious than others. Recently I preached a sermon titled ‘Flying Blind.’ The main illustration was about how pilots have to trust their instruments when flying in the […]