The passengers were eagerly boarding the small airplane to take a scenic flight around New York City. The pilot was carrying out his last minute pre-flight of the airplane to make sure it was safe to fly. Not far away, passengers were eagerly fasting their seat belts in a small helicopter to take a scenic ride around New York City. The helicopter pilot was doing his last minute checks to make sure everything was safe so he could depart.
The airplane and helicopter pilots finished their safety checklists. The passengers were filled with excitement and some were taking their first flight. Both pilots radioed the tower and received a clearance to depart the airport for the scenic VFR (Visual Flight Rules) flight. Both pilots had trained hundreds maybe thousands of hours before the flight on this day. The pilots knew what a VFR clearance meant in relation to what their responsibilities were as pilot in command of their aircraft.
Under VFR rules the pilots were to keep a constant scan (visual observation or situational awareness of their surroundings) outside their aircraft to see and avoid any other aircraft in the area. Both pilots got distracted from their duties while they were telling the passengers about the sights they were seeing. They both, through distraction of the moment, failed to be situationally aware of other aircraft.
Suddenly, after it was too late to change course, the airplane and helicopter pilots saw they were about to collide in mid air. The helicopter blade cut the wing off the airplane and the collision caused both aircraft to lose control. Both aircraft crashed to the ground, taking the lives of all on board. It is a very sad but true story.
Somebody said, “What you don’t know won’t hurt you.” Of course, that is not true. What you do not know could end your life, as in this story. SITUATIONAL AWARENESS is very important in your life as a Christian. Many negative things would not happen to us nor would we miss good things that the Lord has planned for us if we developed and maintained spiritual, situational awareness. The pilots were trained how to do it, but didn’t. I do not belittle them, but it is a sobering thought on how it all happened.
Satan is a Master of Distraction. His goal is to get you focused on any and everything he can to keep you from spending time in prayer and in Bible study, so you can’t see that he is trying to cause your life to crash.
Presently, in my personal life, I have found that it is requiring me hours of prayer and Bible study to be situationally, spiritually aware of what the Lord is saying to my spirit. This is a year of new beginnings for me, but I know I must pray it out before I can walk it out. I am determined that I will follow the Lord. I encourage you to join with me on the level you are on, we all have different paths to follow. The Lord Jesus has designated you as PILOT IN COMMAND of your life.
