Simulating a Crisis

Years ago, I worked in an office park where one of the tenants was a flight simulation company. They operated a flight simulator for large commercial and military aircrafts. Pilots from around the world scheduled time in the simulator to maintain their certification on this particular aircraft.

The simulator itself was incredible. It was an actual cockpit from an airplane, mounted on a huge hydraulic platform that could replicate anything the pilots could experience while in the air. 

The windshields had been replaced by computer screens which would project whatever image the pilots would see during their “flight.”  Surround sound speakers provided realistic acoustics and low range subwoofers provided the vibrations. Small generators would even provide appropriate smells of fire, leaking fuel or oil.  

The pilots were given actual flight plans to test out. These were typically long and tiring, which gave the pilots plenty of time to acclimate to the simulator as though it were the real thing. 

Part of the training was for the engineers running the simulator to create a myriad of worst-case scenarios. This gave the pilots the opportunity to respond to emergencies in real time. Everything from engine fires to hurricanes, lightning strikes to system failures—sometimes multiple events happening simultaneously. Pilots were graded and left knowing that the likelihood of their ever facing a real crisis as bad as what they just went through was quite remote.

The twelve disciples went through a couple of similar situations, though theirs were on the sea, not in the air. Their situations were real. 

The First Storm

Jesus’ first test for the disciples was just after the Sermon on the Mount. He led them into a boat to cross over the Sea of Galilee saying that they were “going to the other side.”  With that, He climbed to the back of the boat and went to sleep.  

A violent storm developed, causing the disciples to believe they were all going to die. One of them went to awaken Christ, lest He die in His sleep. The Lord got up, went to the front of the boat, looked at the disciples, looked at the storm and said, “Peace, be still.” 

Instantly the storm ceased and the sea became as glass. He asked the disciples why they doubted and had such little faith. He had said that they were going to the other side, yet they chose to place more faith in their assessment of the situation than in His spoken words.  

The Scriptures then says “they feared exceedingly and asked among themselves what Man are we following that the wind and the waves obey Him.”  They’d completely misinterpreted the situation!  

The storm that should have drawn them closer to the Lord by demonstrating that He is the God of all creation actually pushed them away because they chose to be frightened rather than to worship.  Their failure to learn from the first storm set the second storm in motion.

The Second Storm

The second storm followed the feeding of the 5,000. This time the Lord sent the disciples on ahead back across the Sea of Galilee, saying that He would follow later. He went up to a mountain to pray.  

John’s gospel tells us that the disciples set sail at 6:00 p.m. for what should have been a 45-minute trip. (Cue the Gilligan’s Island theme song.) After nine hours of rowing, in a terrible storm and pitch-black darkness, they saw a figure walking towards them.  

One of the twelve said, “oh great, it’s a ghost,” but Peter recognized Him and stepped out of the boat. In doing so, Peter became the first human to participate in one of Christ’s miracles. As long as his focus was on the Lord, Peter walked on the waves of the storm; but when he saw the wind, he sank like a rock.  

As Peter went under the waves, he cried out “Jesus help!” (the shortest prayer in the Bible). Jesus grabbed him, got him into the boat, and then climbed into the boat Himself. John’s gospel tells that as soon as Jesus entered the boat, the storm ceased.  

Interestingly, Jesus did not verbally command the second storm to cease as He had the first. This tells us that He did not need to speak to the first storm. He only spoke to prove the point that the wind and waves were obeying Him—it wasn’t a mere coincidence.  

Again, the disciples missed it with the first storm; but thankfully they got it with the second one, and there was no need for a third. 

No Outcome-Based Education

 In Philippians 1:6, the Apostle Paul says:

“I am confident of this: that the One who has begun a good work in you will go on developing it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

There is no outcome-based education in the Christian life! He who began a good work in us will continue it until we get it! How long it takes us to get it largely depends on us.  

When we find ourselves in a storm we can humbly pray “Lord please teach me everything that You have for me to learn in this storm.” Or we can rest assured that there will be a second, third, fourth, or fiftieth storm until we do get it.

Perhaps that is what James had in mind when he said in James 1:2-3:

“When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resist them as intruders, but welcome them as friends!  Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find that you have become men of mature character, men of integrity with no weak spots.”

The Lord Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever and the wind and the waves still obey Him.  1 Corinthians 10:13 reminds us:

“No temptation has come your way that is too hard for flesh and blood to bear.  But God can be trusted not to allow you to suffer any temptation beyond your powers of endurance,  He will see to it that every temptation has its way out, so that it will be possible for you to bear it.”

This is Only a Test

This truth assures us that we will never face any situation others haven’t faced. We can know our God is in absolute control of the severity and extent of the trial. He will surely provide the grace to endure and a way of escape.  

Just like Jesus was in total control of the storms on the Sea of Galilee, He is in total control of the storms that He sovereignly allows into our lives. He allows them to help us grow and change, knowing that He is God.

Flight simulators are designed to be so realistic that pilots forget that they are not in the cockpit of an actual aircraft. In some cases, they panic and crash—failing the test. But better in the controlled environment of a simulator that in an actual aircraft!

In the Christian life we sometimes forget that the God of all creation is in sovereign control of our lives, of every storm and situation. Like the pilots in the simulator, we panic and crash. If only we can remember this is only a test.