A Devotional Corner

It was my birthday recently and during the weekend, I decided to go away and catch a plane. Walking through the terminal building, you would occasionally see people who is dressed up in uniforms who appear to be pilots. As I boarded my plane, waiting everyone to settle and the plane to take off, I began to think, despite the fact that I see people wandering around the terminal who appear to be pilots, how often do I get to see the actual captain that flies the plane that I am on?

Then a whole raft of questions began floating in my mind:

• If it is so rare that I get to see a pilot operating my plane, why do I have to believe that in this particular flight, there is someone controlling the plane?

• Why can't I assume that in such a technology-savvy world, can't this thing be just flying itself?

• Even if there was someone inside, how am I to know that he (she) is qualified? He may have three stripes over his shoulders, but where is his certification/identification that reveals he is really qualified?

• (And in the midst of all these questions, we experienced turbulence, and then the seat-belt sign turned on) Why do I have to trust his announcement/sign and belt up for my own good?

But Ivan, they are very easy questions to answer. There has to be a person operating the plane because we are told in books that it needs to be operated by a person. We are revealed in books and documentation that they need to go through a strenuous process before they obtain certification and qualification to become pilots. Therefore we have to trust the pilot because he has all the equipment and the experience that we would not otherwise have to make the call in turning the seat-belt sign on to ensure our safety throughout the flight. All this out of trust in someone that you have a close-to-zero chance of meeting in the ordinary course of air travel.

When it comes to questions of our faith in God, we are often asked:

• What a wonderful world, but how do I know someone is in control?

• Since the world is so vibrant, why can't I assume its just running itself?

• Even if there is some controller (God), how am I to know he really is qualified? He purports to be God, but what are the signs to show who He really is?

• Why do we have to listen to the ways He suggests us to live our lives and trust that it is for our own good?

Well, these answers, of course to many, are hard to answer. We are told in a book (the Bible), that God is the operator of this world. But people don't believe. It is revealed in the Bible that God has shown himself in human form through Christ Jesus, healing the sick, raising the dead, making the blind see to show he is more than qualified to be the operator. But people don't believe. God knows everything we know, and everything we don't know to know when to make the call in telling us to do certain things to prevent us from getting hurt. We ignore those directions.

So how hard is it to believe in God? Not much more than the faith required to hop on a plane and know that it'll take you from A to B.

Posted by Ivan at 10:34 pm | Permalink | Comments