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Aerodynamics and the Laws of Faith
By Timothy L. Payne
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Sitting in an airplane in Dallas, I looked out the window and watched the runway as the pilot began to throttle forward and set the plane in motion. The engines roared and the plane started to move. I enjoy take offs because when the plane is on the ground the speed is more easily perceived, and it is quite a thrill to roll along at 100+ mph. I tried to guess the speed of the plane as the pavement moved faster and faster underneath us; 50, 60, 80, 100. I compared the speed to how it felt when I drive my Ford Expedition down the highway. |
The ride is smooth and quiet as I cruise down the turnpike at 75 mph, but this plane felt unwieldy as it wobbled along on the runway. Soon the plane's nose began to rise. Something was happening at that point that wasn't happening before. The design of the plane began to react to the laws of aerodynamics, but not UNTIL the plane moved fast enough to allow the wings to create lift.
Critical mass was finally reached as the amount of air moving over the tops of the wings was of enough quantity and speed to create a vacuum under the wings thereby engaging the principal of lift.
Within seconds the entire plane rose off the ground and several hundred people and their luggage were swept skyward. It was at that moment that a realization came to me. Faith is like this airplane, it takes critical mass to cause its principals to take effect. If our airplane had only reached 90% of critical mass we would never have lifted off but would have crashed into the highway at the end of the runway. What a step of faith to pilot an aircraft down a runway that has an end to it! Two things can keep the plane from taking off: lack of thrust (prayer) or putting on the brakes (doubt). Either can stymie our plans to fly.
If we need God to intervene in our life or the life of another and we pray about it almost enough, faith will never kick in even though we have created an environment of faith, just like the plane speeding down a runway is in an environment of aerodynamics. Just being in the environment of faith is not enough to secure the answer. It is enough to make you anticipate the miracle and even sense it is near, but that is an environment of HOPE, not FAITH. Extraordinary things occur when our belief is sped down the runway of trust into a headwind of adversity with enough prayer to get us off the ground (our mind) and into the sky (God's environment).
Now there is another principal that impacts take off . . . wind. Wind or resistance is capable of assisting the aircraft in takeoff. As a matter of fact, the more wind there is, the less thrust is needed to get the craft off the ground. But we must take off into the wind. In a spiritual sense, we should face the enemy and charge into adversity like David running at Goliath. So it can be fairly said that resistance enhances the environment of faith.
Achieving a state of flight or faith is not an easy thing for the human mind to grasp or achieve, because the environment of either exercise is unnatural to our fallen minds. But, when we decide to push into adversity with all the prayer and faith we have, our plane (desire) will find its wings and into God's environment we will rise!
You know, faith is also like an airplane in that each time one desires to fly, one must head into resistance and apply all the spiritual power one possesses in order to take off again. Understanding the simple principal of faith like the righteous Centurion did (Jesus healed his servant from afar) is the starting point. He may not have understood the unseen principals of how spiritual authority works, but he understood authority. So, because he lived in an environment of authority he understood that Jesus did too, it was just different and unseen. Just like a ship's captain may not understand how a huge metal object can fly, he can probably explain the principals of buoyancy and displacement which allow huge metal objects to float on water. Once you understand one principal that belies human perception and reason, you can believe there are other similar principals. So, it is not understanding the PARTICULARS of faith that bring its effectiveness in your life, it is understanding the PRINCIPLES of faith and the environment in which faith exists that bring its effects to bear on your life.
Faith lives in an environment of spiritual authority. The Centurion may not have understood how Jesus was going to heal his servant, but he knew that Jesus could heal his servant. Just like the design of an airplane takes authority over gravity by existing in an environment of aerodynamics, so faith takes authority over sickness, illness, disease, poverty, ignorance...resistance...by existing in an environment of spiritual authority.
I believe that those who have worked God's miracles through faith since Bible times understood this spiritual principal of authority and carried with them both the spiritual design (availability) and the thrust (prayer) to send them down the runway of resistance time after time to be lifted high into the environment of faith.
So, if there are challenges facing you today that you don't think you can overcome even with a good plan, turn your face into the wind and start walking down the runway. Pray and speak the promises of God out loud to yourself and others and then start to run down the runway. Like a plane you will feel unwieldy and wobbly and uncomfortable as you build speed. Onlookers will say, "What the..." But don't be distracted. Then, when your spirit tells you that critical mass is imminent, even though you can't see it or prove it, throw out your arms and leap towards the Father. You will fly. |
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