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Have you ever found yourself driving in the mountains through the heavy fog? There is an eerie feeling when you cannot see anything before you. Your brain is working overtime as your eyes are darting back and forth scanning for both the side and the centerline of the road. Given enough time driving in these conditions, one can experience vertigo - a temporary spatial confusion by misleading information being sent to the brain. Laymen's terms - you can't trust your feelings about your ability to determine proper direction or balance.
I've seen movies and read writings where airplane pilots have experienced this type of disorientation while navigating their craft. It could be the pilot is actually flying straight and level, and yet their brain would testify something completely different leading them to believe they are in a hard left turn. This confusion can lead them to question themselves, "Which way is up?" And, try as they may to make the proper decisions, for many pilots, it can lead to fatal crashes.
I can see the parallel to our inability to making decisions on our own without trusting God and His Word. There are many times where we get into situations where we cannot see what we need to see to navigate through safely. We can try very hard to see everything by our own limited abilities in order to make the best decisions, and yet, we can make poor choices and end up crashing and burning - just like the pilot of the airplane.
Thankfully, for most pilots, the airplanes are equipped with gauges enabling them to always know what is needed to fly and operate the aircraft safely. The responsibility now shifts to the pilot - has he been properly trained for times like these - those times where he cannot rely on his own intuition, feelings, or abilities. Pilots properly trained can rely solely on their instrument panel full of gauges because they have learned to fly by gauges only. This critical knowledge assures them of the ability to navigate the plane as if they could see perfectly. To rely on feelings and intuition alone would be dangerous - but when the inner voice confirms what the facts of the gauges say, it is an indisputable truth.
This is the way it is in our Christian walk as well. We must be continually reading and studying our Bibles - the Word of God. It is our personal aviation instruction manual for life - it is our veritable instrument panel full of gauges to warn us when we are off course in our thinking, feelings, and actions. If followed properly, we are assured safety and success in our travels through life.
The best part is God has told us He will never leave us nor forsake us, and He will be their to guide us and lead us. So, in addition to having the Word to instruct and teach us, we have God living within us as Christian men and women - personally escorting us and guiding us in "All Truth." We see Jesus telling us this in the Book of John.
"If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:15-17 (NKJV)
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; John 16:13 (NKJV)
It is important for us to know these things because the Satan and his emissaries are continually barraging us with fiery darts (Eph 6:16), of lies - telling us which way to turn, what we need to be fulfilled, to trust our feelings rather than what God's Word says to be true, and much more. The enemy loves to tempt us within our flesh to doubt, fear or maybe even believe the worst in certain situations. If the enemy can get us to believe in his lies, we will feel and eventually act upon these feelings. This is sin! We are now much like the airplane pilot who is operating on his feelings and intuition rather than the instrument gauges - we are suffering from Spiritual Vertigo.
We must look to the Word of God to make sure we don't experience Spiritual Vertigo. We must look to the facts and not rely solely on our feelings, lest we make a poor choice and crash and burn.
Hey Christian, I want to encourage you to examine those things you think upon. Are they leading you to feel joy, love, peace, contentment, and confidence? If not, get rid of them (2Cor. 10:5), and think upon the promises of God - promises He has made to you personally.
STUDY QUESTION: What can we learn from the Scriptures contained within this devotional with regard to God's gift of the Holy Spirit to believers?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Do you believe the promises contained within God's Word, or are you listening to the lies of the enemy? Can you see the difference in your life when you choose these two paths?
APPLICATION: Continue to read your Bible daily. Meditate on what you have read. Ask God to show you His truths from these readings. If anything comes into your mind to challenge these truths, get rid of it. Also, find applicable Scriptures to denounce the lies the enemy may be continually attacking you with.
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