Comforting Words …

I remember one very rough night; one very black and stormy night, and we were making an instrument approach in the thunderstorm infested darkness to the USS Kitty Hawk.  

As we completed the final stages of our instrument approach we began the critical transition to the visual cues for landing.  I never saw the landing area pitch and roll that much ever again in my naval career. The deck of the carrier is some 70 feet above the water line and it was pitching +/- 30 feet.  The only thing I remember about that pass was the Landing Signal Officer’s last comment as the deck seemed to be coming back up at something approaching the speed of light … “Hold what you’ve got.”

Translated that meant don’t touch the power, don’t climb, don’t dive, don’t drift left or right, and don’t drift right … “Breathe.” Despite the visual picture unfolding before our eyes (that contradicted his command) we had to choose between going around and doing it all over again or trusting him and continuing the approach. If we wanted to get aboard on that pass, we only had one option … Stay The Course!

Those words were spoken into my ears almost over 55 years ago, and they are as clear now as they were then. I have not thought about that night very many times but every time has brought cold shivers up my spine. I remember thinking at the time: this might not have been such a wise career move! So, you can imagine my reaction when I heard those words in my ears several weeks ago … I was still helding my breath.

Over the years I have learned that without the Word of God to stand on I am hopelessly headed for disaster at the first sign of troubled waters. Many times, in my hurry to move ahead, I have acted based upon “head knowledge” instead of God’s Word.  The result was always the same. Just like ignoring the LSO’s command; he will wave you off and you will have to go around and do it again. The importance of that cannot be overstated as every time you go around you burn up precious fuel you cannot afford to waste. You only have so many passes at the deck in the fuel tank and after that you are either going to have to find an aerial tanker or head for the beach and hope you do not run out of fuel in the process, and in life you only have so much time.

And that is just where we were on that stormy night; struggling to keep everything in balance. I had a bad case of vertigo and I’m sure John had it as well. Inside my head the little voice of the flesh screamed “you’re in a climbing right turn; get the nose down; your rolling left.  But the instruments indicated something completely different.  Just like the world around us today that screams at us; “it’s all over, there isn’t any hope, you’re going under this time,” while the steady voice of The Spirit says, “you’re right on course, don’t deviate!”  It is during those times that your faith gets tested and strengthened.  And that night, after coming out of the clouds, we had very little time to adjust to the visual picture outside … which wasn’t very pretty.

The deck was coming up and we were going down – it seemed like a crash in the making. But just at the last moment the deck reached the limits of its cycle. It stopped moving at just the moment we touched down and grabbed the arresting cable. As the cable slowed us from 170 mph to zero in a heartbeat it was all over. The LSO knew some things we didn’t.  He knew how much the deck was pitching, how fast it was moving, where it was in its cycle, and where it would be when we crossed the ramp. He assimilated all that information and made the decision for us. We simply had to believe what he said and do our part.

When the circumstances surrounding your life are – like a night carrier landing in a storm – out of focus and confused … when the solution seems far from being at hand … when you feel like you are about to go under for the last time … and when it all seems out of control … that is when the Holy Spirit clicks His microphone, breaks the silence, and calmly says those comforting words … “Hold What You’ve Got.