Take a moment to imagine this: Ivy goes on a trip across the country. She buys her plane tickets, packs her bags and arrives at the airport with plenty of time to spare. She sits in the terminal, waiting patiently for the lady at the desk to call her flight number. People wiz past her, trying to make it on time to their own flights. When her flight is called, Ivy boards the plane with a hundred other people, each for a different reason. She places her carry-on above her head, sits back in her chair, and waits for the flight attendants to give further instructions. She looks around to see people already putting headphones in, drowning out what the attendants are instructing about the safety of the flight. Ivy thinks, that’s so rude. Doesn’t everyone need to know all of this stuff? Then she realizes that some of the people have flown so many times before, they probably have the whole spiel memorized. They don’t need to hear it anymore. Finally, the time comes to take off and the plane gets up to speed, jarring everyone in their seats. As the plane climbs in altitude, something feels different to Ivy; her ears start to pop and the air becomes tighter. Her palms get sweaty and her breathing become irregular. A flight attendant sees Ivy’s discomfort and offers words of assurance. That calms her down a little bit.
Halfway through the flight, the captain announces that soon turbulence will be upon the plane. Once again, Ivy’s heart pounds in her chest and she squeezes the armrests extra hard. The man sitting next to her looks as if he is feeling the same way. Ivy thinks, the captain has this all under control, but I still want to take my mind off things. So, she strikes up a conversation with this man, and soon both of them don’t even notice the turbulence anymore. Before long, the plane descends and lands with a jolt, which startles her out of her calming chat with the man. Everyone walks out of the plane, moving towards the baggage claim. Ivy looks around, trying to find a familiar face. She hears her name being yelled and spins around to be hugged by her friend. Off she goes with her friend to collect her luggage and spend the rest of the trip together.
Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I just told this story. While I was flying home from a trip recently, I noticed startling similarities between passengers on a plane and Christians. I just want to share with you what I saw.
The plane ride and everything leading up to it is the life of a Christian. The moment Ivy steps onto the plane and starts ascending into the sky is the moment of conversion or realization that you are a Christian. Something about the lifestyle isn’t as it used to be. The life of a Christian is starkly different than one of an unbeliever. You should be able to tell a difference between the two, just as Ivy did when she got onto the plane.
Then, I compared the instructions that the flight attendants say to those of a minister. The attendants only want to keep us safe when they show us how to deal with certain accidents or events. Ministers do as well. Ministers care deeply for their flock, preaching to them every Sunday, sometimes even twice. They feed us with the Word of God so that we don’t feel scared or clueless when trials and tribulations arise in our lives. I mentioned that some people on the plane didn’t listen to the instructions because they thought that they knew it all since they have flown many times before, but in reality, one can never hear it enough. Everyone needs to hear the Word of God, no matter how experienced you are in life. You might be 99, but I promise that you still need to hear the preaching of the Word because no one will be completely prepared for what’s ahead.
Turbulence is an easy comparison. I compared it to trials that God sends us in our lives. Just as a captain of a plane knows before-hand that it’s coming, so does God. The only difference is that God knows it’s coming because He was the one to send it. Captains have no control of when or where they hit turbulence.
Ivy’s reaction to the turbulence is one that we should all have. She trusted that the captain would be able to control the plane and get them safely through the storm. As Christians, we must trust that God will help us and lead us through the entirety of our trials. Trusting in Him will take the burden off of our shoulders so that we can live in peace. Sometimes, others can help us through hard times too (like the man or the flight attendant). But, God is mainly our source of comfort.
The arrival of the plane at the airport is like coming home to glory and being welcomed by the saints who have already arrived and by God Himself. There might be a last little jolt or trial (persecution, illness, etc.), but the final destination (heaven) will be much greater than any trial or turbulence that we will face.
Don’t be a Christian who sticks their headphones in and goes through the motions. Devour every piece of preaching that you can so that you can be prepared with the armor of God, ready for anything. My hope for you and me is that we live our lives with utter trust in God, that He will carry us through every trial, every patch of turbulence, and lead us to our final home.
