What Every Pilot Needs … and What Every Christian Possesses

Did you ever see the clip of the pilot who landed a plane with one wing?

IT’S AMAZING! IT’S UNBELIEVABLE IT’S A TESTAMENT TO INCREDIBLE PILOTING! IT’S …

fake.

When this video went viral in 2008, it was the brainchild of a German clothing company whose name is emblazoned on the fuselage of the plane. The film was edited with some creative mixing of a legit plane with a small, remote-controlled airplane. People never bothered to question what they saw, so the video went viral and execs at a German clothing company smiled.

Folks, you can’t fly a plane without two wings. One on the left, one on the right. That’s just how these things work.

And you can’t have a walk with Christ without faith and hope. These two are inseparable. They go together like … oh, two wings of a plane.

Faith is simply full trust. I take God at His word. I look at what He’s done in the past—how He’s proven Himself to be faithful—and I trust Him. I’ve looked back and found God to be fully trustworthy, so I place my faith in Him. I look forward in full confidence. That’s hope.

Hope is grounded in that faith. God is the object of my faith and I know He will deliver.

“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1).

• If I have faith, it is seen in my hope.
• If I have hope, it is an expression of my faith.

I cannot have one with the other.

On one occasion, a Roman centurion humbled himself and approached Jesus. He swallowed his pride and went to this controversial Jewish rabbi because he had heard the stories—and believed. How did he express that belief? Listen what he said to Jesus—and hear the hope in his words.

“Just say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Matt. 8:9).

It’s OK to hope, but make sure your hope is grounded in faith in the One who loves and answers out of His grace.

For a printable version: click here.

This post supports the study “Victorious Hope” in Bible Studies for Life.