Enjoy the Ride

Enjoy the Ride

Airplanes have always intrigued me. No matter how many times I board a plane from the steps on the ground, I look down the body of the plane and wonder how does it ever get off the ground! I was in the Detroit Airport and wandered into a store featuring items from the local auto and air museum. I purchased a book entitled, “How We Invented the Airplane,” by Orville and Wilbur Wright. The book was compiled from their written testimony during patent trials from others who were attempting to claim they were the “first,” to invent certain aspects of the Wright Flyer. 

As I read the book I was fascinated by the description of experiments and procedures that went into building and flying one of the first aircraft. That fascination led me to ride with Cap’n Mac a few years later. I was attending a local airport “fly-in” day and was wandering around studying aircraft. I was peering over a 1930 vintage bi-plane when Cap’n Mac said: “we can take it up for a few dollars.” I jumped at the chance!

It was a “Charlie Brown and Snoopy the Red Baron” flight. Goggles strapped to my head. A leather cap tightly strapped under my chin, with ear flaps flopping in the wind. Riding in the open cockpit of a bi-plane was a boyhood dream come true. 

We flew as straight up as the G-forces would allow, then dropped out of the sky like a honey bee zeroing in on the nectar of a beckoning flower. Leveling off, we hurtled across open fields, thirty feet off the ground, dipping over hedges of trees and fishing boats on the river. 

Cap’n Mac gave me my moneys worth. It was exhilarating. I bubbled over with enthusiasm describing the details of my ride to anyone who would listen. I truly enjoyed the ride. 

Sometimes the ride on planet Earth is all but exhilarating. When you listen to or read the news on your mobile device it usually describes life at its worst. There are, however, bright spots. We can go through life looking at the thorns on the rose bush or enjoy the fragrance and beauty of its petals. 
In praying to God the Father, Jesus put it this way regarding our trek on planet Earth. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one.” (John 17:15). In other words, in this life, we will get banged up and battered once in a while, some more than others. But we are to look to a never-failing refuge in God. 

I read a study a few years back regarding research at Duke University. The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a difference in healing with patients when the treatment was combined with spirituality. 

The result was “those who were prayed for had a 50 percent reduction in heartbeat abnormalities and a reduction in clinical outcomes such as heart attacks and heart failure.” Prevention Magazine

As with every such study, some will shoot holes in parts of it, but the bottom line was that prayer made a difference. God says, “Remain calm and at peace by leaning on Me. Trust the unknown to Me. Trust your heartache to Me. I created you—it will be ok.” 

I have a picture in my office (in fact I am looking at it now) that Mom and Dad gave me for my sixteenth birthday. A storm is breaking over the bow of an open boat. Waves are cascading skyward. Spray and foam are in the air. A young man is standing at the wheel of the boat. Jesus is firmly holding on to his shoulder and pointing straight ahead. In reality, Jesus’ hand is controlling the wheel.  I like that thought…

So, today, walk in faith in God’s promise—that the ride is worth it—“God will wipe every tear from their eyes; there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there will be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Put your hand in the hand of Jesus today—He is “riding” with you.