I’ve been on a lot of airplanes over the years. The best flights are never memorable, and they are the ones I prefer. But the “not so great flights” provide some great stories. One of my favorite “not so great flight stories” is a trip Deb, my wife, and I took to Omaha, Nebraska.
Our oldest daughter and her family live in Omaha. So, we’ve made several trips to that city from our home in Zephyrhills, Florida. We’ve driven a few times, but we generally fly. There’s seldom a direct flight from Tampa to Omaha on our favorite airline. Therefore, we have made connections in Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and St. Louis.
On one flight that connected in St. Louis we were encouraged by the flight crew to board early and to board as fast as possible. When we got on board, the pilot explained why. He said, “Folks, there’s some bad weather heading toward Omaha, so please take your seats as quickly as possible so we can depart and arrive ahead of the storm.”
I immediately sent a text to our daughter asking about the weather. She responded saying there was a tornado warning for Omaha. I generally prefer going away from tornados versus going toward tornados. I thought, if we’re going to beat the storm, let’s get going as fast as possible. However, if you’ve flown a few times, you know there’s always that one passenger who comes on board with a bag too heavy and almost too large to fit in the overhead compartment. Everyone else was in their seat, but we’re now waiting for that one guy to get his bag, that must have been filled with bricks, up into the overhead. It seemed like it took him forever. In the meantime, I was becoming more anxious thinking about the tornado closing in on Omaha.
The man finally got his bag into the overhead compartment and he took his seat. However, there was another hiccup. One of the flight attendants made an announcement that they had one too many passengers than they were supposed to have on the plane. They re-stated that the destination is Omaha and asked if there was anyone on the plane who is not planning to go to Omaha. No one responded.
Of course, the tornado was continuing to close in on Omaha.
The flight attendants then went through the plane and did another head count. They then announced that they still had one too many passengers and were again looking for the person who was not supposed to be on the flight. No one responded.
The tornado didn’t care how many passengers were on the plane and continued to close in on Omaha.
The flight attendants then went through the plane and did another head count. They still had one too many passengers. At this point, I was wondering who really cared about the extra passenger. If someone was supposed to be going to Oklahoma City instead of Omaha, they would find out, if we arrived ahead of the storm, they were in the wrong city. LET’S GO!
At this point the pilot agreed with me. He decided he didn’t care how many extra people were on the plane. He announced, in a faint voice to the flight crew, “Prepare for departure”. We departed. We were now in an air race. The tornado was given a head start. Our aircraft was climbing up the backstretch at around 500 miles per hour toward the same destination as a group of clouds spinning around at 180 miles per hour.
The flight, unbelievably, was smooth and the passengers seemed calm. But maybe, like myself, they looked calm on the outside, but were very nervous on the inside. Then about two-thirds of the way between St. Louis and Omaha the pilot made an announcement I’d never heard given in my life on any previous flight.
He said, “Well folks, I’ve looked up ahead at the weather and I think there’s about a 50% chance of landing.” End of announcement.
Wait a minute! What did he mean?!? A 50% chance of landing? A lot of questions began running through my head. Did he mean “ever”? Were we going to just drift around until the plane ran out of fuel? Or did he mean “safely”? Was there a 50% chance of landing safely and a 50% chance of a crash landing? Or did he mean “in Omaha”? Was there an alternative plan to divert the plane to some other place to avoid the storm? None of us knew exactly what he meant. We never will.
He said nothing else again until we began descending. Then he gave the most comforting announcement I’ve ever heard from a pilot.
“Well folks, I’m watching the weather and I have a pretty good feeling about this.” End of announcement.
Wait a minute! What did he say?!? He had a “good feeling” about this? I would have much rather heard him say that he had checked the weather, checked with air traffic control, and offered any other technical information that he had access to and then told us there was no reason we wouldn’t get in ahead of the storm and land safely. I did not know landing a 737 safely was based on good or bad feelings.
Thankfully, a few minutes later, we did touch down safely on the runway and a flight attendant said, “Welcome to Omaha.” The man seated next to me, looking straight ahead, and still seemingly tense, said, “Now I have a good feeling about this.”
It was an interesting ride. As I think back about it, I see a spiritual analogy in this story.
We’re all on a flight in this world called Life. We all know there’s a storm coming toward us, and the trip will, sooner or later, come to an end. For some of us it will be drawn out and end slowly. For some of us it will end abruptly. However, it will end, and there will be a final destination.
I wonder how many people are basing their final destination on feelings.
I feel like I’m a pretty good person. I feel like the positive things I’ve done outweigh the negative things I’ve done. I feel I’m as good or better than the next person. When I read about all the horrible things some people do, I feel fairly certain that God will give me two thumbs up.
Here’s the problem. Nowhere in the Bible are we told that being a good person or doing good things results in everlasting life. Having a “good feeling” won’t get us there.
There are verses that some people might ask about such as 2 John 8 which states “Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.” But this verse is not speaking about entering everlasting life in Heaven. It’s speaking about rewards in addition to everlasting life.
So, what I want you to know is that we can’t base our final destination on feelings. The good news is… We don’t have to!
Here’s the simple steps to everlasting life.
• Believe
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas are in jail. An earthquake shakes the jail doors open during the night. The jailer knew he would be executed if the prisoners escaped on his watch. Knowing this causes him to think about his final destination. He didn’t feel good about it. So, he yelled out to Paul and Silas asking them what he needed to do to insure a safe landing. They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31).
The first thing to do is believe who Jesus is (the Son of God) and believe what He did (born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on a cross, conquered death / rose from the grave, and ascended to Heaven).
• Receive
The idea is to accept Him. The concept is that God gives all of us the free gift of everlasting life when we believe in His Son, Jesus, and accept Him into our life as both Lord and Savior. Believing comes first, the yielding and receiving comes next. When you and I do this, we’re adopted into God’s eternal family.
John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
• Understand
It’s important for us all to realize that good deeds do not produce everlasting life. We enter everlasting life in Heaven only through Jesus, not because our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds. When we truly believe and receive Christ, our lives change as we begin to see the world through God’s eyes.
For me, this is refreshing news. If I had to rely on my feelings, the landing to my destination might look ok one day and not the next. Instead by faith, not by feelings, through grace, not good deeds, we have the promised destination of everlasting life in Heaven. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
By the way, we been able to avoid tornado season on subsequent trips to Omaha.
I’ve Got a Good Feeling about this
