Airplane Mode

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. 

Psalm 46:10

I travel a lot, and sometimes the only break I get from the incessant melody of phone pings is that period of time in an airplane when I am forced to turn my device to airplane mode. Recently as I headed home, the flight attendant explained that it was because our incoming signals might interfere with the pilot’s critical job of following the right signals for leading us home.

What a breathtaking metaphor.

Like passengers on an airplane, we have a Pilot who has set His instrumentation on home. He is taking us home. This is what is on His mind.

How terrible if my refusal to turn off all that interferes for a while caused me and the passengers with me on the plane to not get home.

In my layman-non-pilot perspective I may be overshooting this metaphor, but stick with me a moment, dear reader…I see a critical learning opportunity for us here.

A commitment to daily #stillness in God’s presence is like turning the outside world off for a time. Like switching the soul to airplane mode. Share on X

The discipline to set aside all that distracts allows us to breathe deep and quiet our minds and hearts for a time. It makes it possible to focus on Jesus, and His voice alone.

So much is coming at us from every direction, all the time. Good things. Bad things. Confusing messages. Information overload. Alarming news. Fear. Work yet undone. Unmet goals.

But our Pilot is leading us home. He is carrying us home in the vehicle of salvation through Jesus Christ. And He is no mere human, at the mercy of manmade instruments and human imperfection. He is the Lord, and we are safe in His hands. He will get us home.

When we allow the noise coming into our souls to continue nonstop, we may miss the way home. We may come crashing down in fear, anxiety, and overload. 

Our commitment to stillness in His presence impacts fellow passengers on this journey. When we take time to be still and listen to God, we emerge better attuned to those around us. We hear His heart for them. We respond to other sojourners with focus and peace, not distraction and stress. When we don’t take that time, we may see them as mere annoyances we hope will let us go ahead in the line and not hold us up from getting off the plane.

I realize this metaphor is not perfect, but Hebrews 9:24 tells us that there are figures of the true all around us. Something here in front of me, tangible, that is an indication of something true and eternal. I’m always looking for the eternal in the temporal, and on the airplane home this week, I could see how much my soul needed airplane mode on a regular basis.

Once the plane landed and I turned my phone back on, all those messages were still waiting, along with many new ones. And the peal of busyness and need rang out again like school bells calling students back after recess. 

But I was rested, and I was focused, and I could see all those lovely people around me getting off the plane. Jesus even assigned me to help a veiled woman struggling to hold her newborn and her luggage, all the way to the gate where she tearfully greeted her husband. He had not yet met his baby daughter, and I had the sacred honor of witnessing their first encounter.

Wow. God has such beauty to show us if we will be still and know.

Lord, help me commit to daily stillness in Your presence. I don’t want to miss out on what You want me to see. Or who. Amen.

 

@audreycfrank

Listen to this beautiful version of “Jesus, Savior Pilot Me” (Edward Hopper, 1816-1888) by Claire and Dave Crosby: https://youtu.be/AJYuB7c3Y7g?si=W4v-hMaoDM0lt2Ch 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pilot Me the old spiritual song