1 Kings 18:27

The story is humorous, but there was nothing funny about it at the
time it happened.  An airplane had departed Asheville, NC last night,
bound for LaGuardia Airport in New York City.  Along the way the pilot
stepped out of the cockpit to go into the lavatory.  When he tried to
exit the lavatory he found the door had jammed and he couldn't get it
open.

A passenger heard the pilot banging on the door, and was asked to
inform the copilot to the situation.  The copilot wasn't convinced of
the story, however, and alerted authorities to a possible highjacking
situation.  Eventually the pilot got out, and the tense situation was
defused before fighter jets were scrambled.

We can chuckle about it now, but it was a potentially serious
situation.  What if the copilot was not trained in certain emergency
procedures?  What if there had been no copilot at all?  On whom could
the passengers rely if the pilot was unavailable?

The same might be asked of God.  The writers of Bible times knew
nothing of aircraft, of course, so there's no need to look for
occurrences in Scripture of this metaphor.  But God's ability to guide
lives is a prominent theme, and that's in the same category as an
airline pilot.  What if our Pilot was unavailable when we needed Him
most?

An interesting episode is found in 1 Kings 18.  Elijah, a prophet of
God, confronted false prophets.  He proposed a contest to prove whose
deity was actually real.  As the false prophets tried hard to get
their god, Baal, to answer them, "... Elijah mocked them and said,
'Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy,
or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened"
(1 Kings 18:27).  Following their failure to rouse their so-called
god, Elijah showed the power of the true God by calling fire down from
heaven to consume his sacrifice.

Didn't Elijah raise a valid point, however?  Could it not be the case
that God, the true God, might Himself be unavailable?  What would we
do if that moment was a time of urgent need?

Psalm 121 answers our fears with powerful reassurance: "He will not
allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm
121:3,4; we suggest reading all eight verses of this beautiful psalm).
God is never off-duty.

Jesus also taught us to trust the loving concern of our heavenly
Father.  After stating that God takes note of the activities of the
birds, He went on to say this: "But the very hairs of your head are
all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many
sparrows" (Luke 12:7).  The lesson: God watches over us, and will give
us the guidance we need.

But that's precisely the point most fail to realize: We need God's
guidance.  The wisdom and understanding of people are limited (see
Jeremiah 10:23).  We don't have infallible ability to make good
decisions.  God, though, reaches out to us with a stunning offer: "I
will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide
you with My eye" (Psalm 32:8).  The promise is not to guide us by
means of an angel (though that would be awesome); God will guide us
personally!

Timothy D. Hall