Friday, September 22, 2006
There have been a number of airplane crashes over the years. A few of them are the kind you just don't forget. One was the crash of United Flight 232. Captain Al Haynes and his crew were desperately trying to control a plane that was almost out of control due to an equipment failure. They were diverted from Chicago to Sioux City, Iowa. There was no way they were able to maneuver that plane to the airport. Their best hope of saving at least some lives was to try to bring it down in a nearby cornfield. Captain Haynes became a national hero when he somehow managed to do just that. Tragically, some lives were lost in the crash landing and the subsequent fire, but there were many survivors from a crash that could have easily killed all aboard. Captain Haynes said he had a hero that day. His crew had checked every procedure book to see what to do in an emergency like they were facing. They found no procedure. So Captain Haynes' hero was the flight controller that talked him through that terrifying crisis. Here's what the captain said: "There's nothing like a calm, soothing voice talking to you, telling you everything you need to know."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Stabilizer When You're Crashing."
That's part of what saved lives that day of the crash - one voice, one person who was outside the situation, who had the big picture, who gave them guidance no one else could give them. The "calm, soothing voice, telling you everything you need to know" - the flight controller.
Every one of us needs a flight controller to help us know what to do when all the usual procedures aren't enough for what we're facing. To give us guidance in a world that has more unpredictables and more uncertainties than ever. Actually, much like a jetliner, we were designed for a flight controller. We were designed by a flight controller; by the Flight Controller of a hundred billion galaxies. He runs the universe. God's supposed to be the One who's running us. He's not. In the Bible's words, "We all ... have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way" ( Isaiah 53:6).
So we're confused about our direction, unsure of the flight plan that will give our life some meaning, and missing the One who can help us avoid our crashes or survive life's crashes. So many people have discovered in Jesus Christ the flight plan they were made for and the Flight Controller who made the rest of their life secure.
It doesn't get any more secure than this promise from Jesus, recorded in Hebrews 13:5 and 8. It's our word for today from the Word of God. Jesus says: "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Others could make that promise; only the Son of God can keep that promise. So you never need to face another life situation, another storm without the personal love and power of Jesus Christ Himself. He is, the Bible continues, "the same yesterday and today and forever" - your one fixed point in a world that's always changing. He'll never leave you because He loves you beyond words. And He loves you so much that He died for you to pay for the sin that would otherwise keep you from Him and from heaven forever.
Jesus has been the Flight Controller for my wife and me through our most painful times. When we lost a baby, Jesus was the difference. When the finances were caving in, Jesus was the difference. When the accident was nearly fatal, when the loss of a loved one was very sudden and very painful, when they said my wife might not make it, when the doctor's news was awful; always, Jesus was the difference. He wants to be that for you. If you'll acknowledge Him as your only hope of having a personal relationship with the God who made you, of having your sins forgiven so you can belong to Him, and of being sure that your life-flight lands in His heaven.
We'd love to help you be sure that you belong to Him. That's really what our website is for. Would you check it out today? It's yoursforlife.net. Or you can call for my booklet "Yours For Life." It's a toll-free number. It's 877-741-1200.
You'll find Him to be what so many have found Him to be - that calm, soothing voice in your soul, talking to you, telling you everything you need to know.