I am not writing about my faith but the faith in the one who was present in the midst of the storm in the skies. The captain of the aeroplane made an announcement that we must put on our seat belts which we did. I noticed a woman starting to cry a few seats away from me. She thought that the plane was going to crash. The wind was very strong outside and the plane was shaking quite a bit. I began to pray to the Lord Jesus that in his kindness He would still the stormy wind. In spite of this all, the Lord Jesus gave me a sense of assurance that He would take us through this safely and God willing we would land safely at Heathrow Airport. The reason for my sense of assurance was my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and knew whatever happened I was safe. I wanted to get up from my seat and tell the woman that it would be fine, since the Lord Jesus is in total control. But I did not get up since I had to respect what the captain of the plane had told us to do, which was to put on our seat belts and remain in our seats.
Now then, when did this all happen? It happened last week as our aeroplane left Dubai and entered Europe heading toward London Heathrow Airport. We were flying at the height of thirty eight thousand feet above sea level. The aeroplane in which I was travelling is so huge that you don’t feel much turbulence in the air. I have travelled a few times in this type of aircraft. But this time it was a new experience. The LORD in his providence let me go through this experience for my own good but ultimately for His own glory. I am sharing this story (not in full detail) to magnify the Name of my Saviour and Lord. Moreover, it is to encourage us in the area of our faith in our Saviour who is the Captain of our Salvation. We run the race set before us looking unto Him (Hebrews 12:1-2) who is the author and finisher of our faith. He is reigning (Revelation chapter 5) and ruling from the Heavens above. Nothing happens without His knowledge and permission.
You may wonder what happened next. Well, in the providence of God things calmed down. God helped the captain of the aeroplane. We were still three hours away (roughly) from Heathrow Airport. I got up to stretch my legs and walked towards the rear part of the plane and stood for a few minutes. Providentially I found the husband of the woman standing not far from me. I said to him, “Is your wife okay now?” He said, “Yes.” I told him, I nearly got up to come to you. But now I can tell you what I wanted to say to you when your wife was crying in fear. He listened, and then said, “I am an atheist. I don’t believe in God and I have only faith in the captain of this aeroplane.”
My response (not in a confrontational manner but with great conviction) to this was: “I have faith in my Captain, the Lord Jesus Christ! He is in ultimate control. He has delegated control to man and He has been helping the captain of this aeroplane. But the actual control room is in the Heavens above where Christ is.”
The man, even though he did not believe what I said, still allowed me to speak for five minutes. Finally, we did land safely at Heathrow Airport. I thanked God for His goodness as the plane touched the runway.
Please pray that what the man heard would bear much fruit and that the Holy Spirit would open his eyes. Pray that the next time he flies he would no longer be seeking to suppress the true knowledge of God, (Romans 1:18) but it would be true of him what we read in Romans 1:17 that “…The just shall live by faith.”
Note from Pastor E. John dated 11.3.2016
