Be Still Until You Know Which Way is Up

 

David, a physician and friend of our family, served as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War.  As part of his training, he was taught what to do if he had to bail out of his plane over water.  A pilot who ejects from his aircraft hits the water very hard while spinning very rapidly.  He feels himself moving through the water and experiences that lifesaving urge to get to the surface as quickly as possible.  The problem is, he doesn’t know which way is up.  A pilot who begins kicking and paddling too soon often swims down instead of up and takes himself further from the surface he wants to reach and closer to drowning.  So, the pilot is trained to wait—to be still—until the force of his entry into the water has run out and he slowly comes to a stop.  Then and only then, the buoyancy of his flight vest begins to tug him gently toward the surface.  Once he knows which way is up, he can add his effort to what the vest is doing and reach the surface where he can breathe again. 

Though few of us will serve as fighter pilots, most of us face some unexpected crashes.  We hit hard.  We spin out of control.  We don’t know which way is up.  We’re tempted to do something, do anything, to get back to the place where we can breathe.  But until we know which way is up, our efforts, as sincere as they may be, may take us in the wrong direction and away from the life we long to experience.  We, like fighter pilots spinning and sinking through the water, must wait, we must be still before God until the gentle tug of His Spirit guides us in the direction we need to go.  And once we know which way is up, once we know the direction that will lead us toward life and not self-destruction, we are ready to add our effort to what God is doing.  We can kick and paddle and move ourselves toward the place where our spirits can breathe again and we can feel restored to the fullness of life.