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"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever" - Ps 118:1
There is an unspoken rule in business that you do not discuss politics or religion and normally I adhere to that standard, but in the wake of the miracle of US Air flight #1549, I can’t let this go unspoken. As we prepare for the historic inauguration of Barack Obama and all of the adjulation and exhortation therein, God sent us a reminder of who is really in control and where our help really comes from. I do not minimize the actions of the flight team, but I wanted to make sure we did not miss the bigger picture in this deliverance.
"I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place" - Ps 118:5
Last night I watched an interview with one of the passengers and he said the pilot told them to prepare for a very hard landing and "everyone started praying". The message here is even in the midst of your most dire situation God is with you and "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." - James 5:16 KJV. We may not always understand why things happen, but we must trust God. Jesus performed many miracles in the New Testament and many of us have been looking for a sign to reconcile our spiritual mind and logical mind.
Our logical mind can comprehend how flight 1549 was put into jeopardy by birds flying into both engines and the pilot realizing a full loss of power was eminent and there was no way to make it back to LaGuardia. We can admire the pilot’s coolness as he remembered to activate the R.A.T. system that returned emergency hydraulic power to steer the plane. We can even fathom the fact the plane, with a low wing design, landed flat on the river, when any tipping left or right would have caused the plane to sommersault and all of this happening from 3200 feet in about three minutes from loss of power to the water landing.
Our spiritual mind tells us God loves us and Jesus intercedes on our behalf, but we still don’t understand why bad things happen to good people. How is it I can watch such a miracle one day and hear of three children loosing their lives in a fire the next morning? Once again this is a question that arises from our logical mind trying to rationalize our faith. Since faith is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see". - Hebrews 11:1 NIV How can we ever get our logical mind to submit to the profession of our faith?
The answer is a deeper understanding of who God is, His character, and how Jesus died for us to have an opportunity to have a proper relationship with God. From this deeper understanding, we begin to realize there is no difference in our logical and spiritual mind, just the period between our professing our faith and growing our faith. We must study God’s word because " in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." - Romans 1:17 NIV
"I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD" - Ps 118:17
It is my hope and prayers that each person aboard flight 1549 will recognize the blessing they received and diligently seek the mission God has intended for their lives.