Yahuweh will guard your “departure” and your “arrival”, from this time and forever”—Psalm 121:8
I love airplanes. In fact, it was my career for 25 years. Travel is increasingly becoming difficult because of the increasing wickedness in the earth. That said, I still love the takeoffs and landings—whether I am sitting inside the plane or watching from afar.
This morning, as I was reading something on the Spirit (the Ruach of Yahuweh), it reminded me of an airplane traveling down a runway—picking up speed by the second. As I began to ponder this image, it came to me…I am like this airplane.
One of my favorite Scriptures is John 3:8. To be born of the Spirit is to become His passenger, yet we must personally point ourselves in the forward direction through repentance. We will never takeoff from the systems of this world without positioning ourselves accordingly.
Oh to walk by His Spirit so that I do not fulfill those things that are detrimental to my life. Oh to be rescued from the gravitational pull of this world—to break free and to soar high above my enemies…this is my plea.
Praise, proclamation and the consumption of the Word of Yahuweh–His Scriptures–become the fuel by which I am powered down the runway. I have positioned myself for takeoff and now I must throttle up the engines of my belief, that what the Pilot says is absolutely true. I heard Him say—“clear for takeoff!”
The boost of power threw me back into my seat as I began traveling down this runway called life. While in the Air Force, I had to do FOD (Foreign Object Damage) walks down the runway each morning before the jets would be allowed to takeoff and land. If there was even a small piece or a scrap of something on the ground such as a piece of metal or a pebble, it could easily be sucked into the intake of the engine and destroy it—and much worse, destroy the life of the pilot.
This runway called life is full of FOD, and we must be in prayer continuously as to not allow ourselves to pick up objects that would damage our ability to ‘go forward’. Through the help, strength and wisdom of Abba, we MUST protect our engines by allowing Him to walk with us down the runway–allowing His Spirit to locate the hazards that lie all around us.
I could feel the speed picking up, and I knew the time of lifting off the ground was near. My head is humbly down, as I, like the nose of the airplane, must remain down until the right moment in which the Pilot pulls back on the stick. The speed of travel must be constant and precise. Each day I must battle to remain at this speed, head down in prayer, as I fight against the winds of the enemy pounding violently against me. But I know, through my persistence in providing the necessary fuel to my engines, that if I continue steadfastly in pushing ahead, that the time will come to overcome the one who is working so hard to hold me down.
“It’s time,” the Pilot says, “it is time!”
At just the right moment, while traveling full speed ahead, He grabs the stick and slowly pulls it back. As the nose of the plane begins to lift, my head begins to lift. And the more He pulls the stick back, the higher my head rises…until…the wind of His Spirit—His Ruach—begins to take over the gravitational pull of this demanding and cruel world. As my head is lifting high above my enemies—then His Spirit, from deep within me, begins to lift my being to new heights.
“Yes, I’m leaving the ground!”
“The wheels are up, and I’m leaving the ground—weeping—my feet are leaving the ground!”
“Look at me Papa, Daddy.. I’m flying!”
“I’m soaring high with You!”
And as the smile on my face grows as wide as the wings that are carrying me; I look down from above and see the face of my Daddy as He is holding me in the air and spinning me around. The delight on His face becomes the laughter on my face.
He picked me up and lifted me high. Oh praise Him Who has done this for me!
We have one destination, and through our obedience of letting go of the gravitational pulls of this life by our simplistic trust in Him—we will reach it. We will be soon flying high with Him, but we will also soon be landing in the restful arms of the One who breathed our names from before the world began.
He is my Pilot—I am the passenger. Getting our plane ticket is the first step in this journey. We haven’t landed yet, so we must keep our heads forward, and stay securely locked in place with the seat-belt of His Truth.
Aren’t you glad that He is flying us? All we have to do is to spread our wings and let the wind of His Spirit lift us higher and higher, until the problems we leave behind increasingly become smaller and insignificant in magnitude.
With joy and gladness of heart I write this to you today!
I hope to see you in the air!
Look higher—go forward—arrive home at the airport of His Love!
He has laid out the flight plan! Follow it!
Journey on!
Derek
“The Spirit breathes where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”—John 3:8