Trusting God vs. Trusting Our Feelings

Do you remember the tragic, true story about John F. Kennedy, Jr. accidentally flying a plane into the Atlantic Ocean off of the coast of Massachusetts?

Kennedy and his beautiful wife and sister-in-law were killed because Kennedy failed to maintain control of the plane over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation and possibly other related factors.

I often think of this story when I’m tempted to live life by my feelings instead of biblical truth. In fact, I wrote a more in-depth post on the story and how it relates to spiritual realities here.

Even though most of my readers, including myself, are not pilots, we can make the same mistake Kennedy did as we pilot our lives. The results can be disastrous. We can choose to fly by the instruments (God’s Word) OR we can choose to go with our feelings.

One of the first precepts in flying by the instruments (instead of by visual clues which were impossible for Kennedy because of poor visibility that particular night) is to ignore the body’s sensations. Sensations can be wrong and are not able to tell us if we don’t have visual cues, whether or not we are right-side up.

I’m thinking upon this story this week as I wrap up this series on Jennifer Dukes Lee’s book, It’s All Under Control. Much of what I gleaned from her book was a deeper grasp of trusting “the instruments” instead of my feelings.

Will I…will you…pilot life by what the Word of God says instead of feelings? Will we trust that God is in control even when we feel out of control?

It’s so tempting to go with feelings, but I’m finding that there is a blessing in doing the hard thing.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

-Jeremiah 17:7-8

The blessing in trusting God is growing in our relationship with Him and flying free from anxiousness and fear.

After reading Jennifer’s book, I’m refreshed in flying this way:

-Believing and trusting, even when God is silent.

-Fixing my eyes on Jesus. Trusting in Him and all I know of Him and how He’s instructed me to fly in life vs. trusting in myself and my feelings.

-When I sense that I’m falling, I will trust that Jesus is coming to the rescue.

I recently taught a Sunday School class in which we talked about how God is described as an eagle in His Word. As I prepared for class, I read up about eagles and how they teach their young eaglets to fly. As you may know, eagles push their young out of the nest and then swoop down to rescue them as they fail and tumble toward the earth. Perhaps that is a more humble and clear picture of life than us as pilots needing to trust only when we get flustered.

Yes, we are more like little eaglets, learning to fly and needing, often, the Lord’s wings to bear us up. The Lord rescues us and swoops us up as we tumble toward confusion, hardship, and even destruction.

“There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,
Who rides the heavens to help you,
And in His excellency on the clouds.
The eternal God is your refuge,
And underneath are the everlasting arms…”

-Deuteronomy 33:26-27

This month I’ve been sharing ways that Jennifer’s book, It’s All Under Control, has helped me recently. Today I’m giving away one free copy to one subscriber who commented in October! The winner is Laurie from Meditations in Motion!

You can also get the book, It’s All Under Control, right here!