Pilot or Co-Pilot

I don’t fly often, but when I do, I like to take a direct, nonstop flight. I think most of us are like that. We want to get somewhere the quickest and most efficient way possible. We’re often like that in our journey through life too. We want the quickest path to our goals, with the least amount of pain; and we want to be in control. We want to be the pilot, the driver, the one making the plans.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, that isn’t the way God works. He made our world, and He made us. And He made a way for us to move through this world His way.  First, He sent His Son to die and rise again to provide victory for us. But something else happened in that process. We were given the Holy Spirit as our guide.

Jesus talks a lot about the Holy Spirit. In John 14:16, Jesus calls Him the Helper or Parakletos, which means our advocate, our comforter, our helper, our counselor. In John 15:26, Jesus calls Him the Spirit of Truth. Then in John 16:13, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth.

There was a book that was popular when I was young. God is My Co-Pilot was written by a fighter pilot in the Air Force. I remember reading the book, but honestly, I don’t remember much about it. I do remember seeing lots of bumper stickers with “God is My Co-Pilot” in big letters. And that sounds great, at first. Who wouldn’t want God as your copilot…..especially in the streets of Greenville!
 
But might we be missing something? I’m not a pilot, but my concept of a copilot is that they are second in command. I’m afraid that is too often how we live our Christian lives, especially when it comes to the Holy Spirit. We set the course, we make the plans, then we ask God to bless them, and we may even ask the Holy Spirit to be with us on our journey that was predetermined by us. And we feel really good about having Him along in the copilot seat. But what if that’s the wrong seat for Him?

When I look at Jesus and how He walked through life, I see a different process. Right after Jesus was baptized by John, Matthew 4:1 tells us He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. That definitely would not have been in my predetermined plan. Then after the temptation, Jesus moved into ministry, through the power of the Holy Spirit. We often see where Jesus took time away from the crowds, and even from His disciples. He knew He needed time with His Father and time with the Holy Spirit in order to walk out the path set before Him by His Father, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
 
If we want to walk out our lives in true power, we need the Holy Spirit as more than our co-pilot. I believe we need to spend time with the Trinity – God the Father, Jesus the Son, AND the Holy Spirit. Instead of inviting the Holy Spirit to come into our day, what if we asked Him to lead us through our day? To lead us along the path that God has prepared for us, empowering us to live out a life that points people towards Jesus. That will look different for each of us. And I dare say, it will often look different from what we had planned in our well-thought-out itinerary for our day, and even for our life.

Are we willing to trust the Holy Spirit to do His job? To be our helper, our counselor, our power source, and our truth. It will not always be comfortable. I can pretty much promise you that there will be times of pain, sorrow, and heartache. But I can also promise you that the Holy Spirit will be right beside you, leading you on the path that God planned for you, a path that will end in victory. After all, we have read the end of the book. That doesn’t minimize the pain, but it reminds us Who is in control, and I hope it reminds us that we can trust the Holy Spirit as the one God sent to lead us and to empower us.
 
So, as you start your day, I ask you to start with a simple prayer that might go something like this.

Holy Spirit, a new day is ahead of me. I ask You to do more than be with me. I ask You to step to the front and lead me through this day. Help me to hear You and to have the courage to follow Your leading. I trust You to empower me. Thank You for being my helper, my encourager, and the one who empowers me.

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