https://vimeo.com/59823879

I'm Wayne Jacobson, and this is Engage. I know I've told this story before on transitions, but I think it's appropriate here to remind you of it. I wanted to learn to fly airplanes as a young man, so at 16 years of age I worked at an airport until I had enough money, it saved up to actually take my first flying lesson. When I got into the plane with my instructor, he sat in the right hand seat, I'm in the left hand seat, and he looks over at me and he said, I'm going to teach you everything you need to know about flying. I thought, wow, this is great, learn everything in one lesson. He said, you're in the left hand side of the plane, you're in that left hand seat, you're the pilot in command of the aircraft, you are responsible for everything. I'm in the right hand seat, I could be your co-pilot, I could be your instructor, I could just be a passenger. I'm responsible for nothing. And then he sat there, this 55-year-old man and the 16-year-old kid, and we're sitting in a plane, it's absolutely quiet, and I keep looking at him waiting for what's next. He's the teacher, he's supposed to tell me what I should do, but he doesn't. I keep looking over at him, he keeps smiling at me, and finally I got frustrated and said, what are we doing? He said, what would you like to do? I said, I'd like to learn to fly. He said, I'm an instructor, I could teach you. And then he went quiet again. It took a long time, but it finally dawned on me that he was wanting me to take an active role in my own education as a pilot, that instead of him just telling me what I needed to know, he wanted me to ask. So I asked him, I said, well, what do we want to do first? He said, what would you like to do? I said, do I want to start the plane? And he said, every good pilot will pre-flight the aircraft before he starts the plane. And then he was quiet again, and so I turned to him and said, would you show me how to pre-flight the aircraft? I would love to, he says, and he gets out of the plane, I get out of the plane, we walk around and pre-flight the aircraft. That's how that training went. Everything I needed to know, he made me ask him for. He made me be an active learner in this process. So I wasn't just taking in information and filing it somewhere. I was actually doing the things I was wanting to do. That's what we need to learn with God as well. Other people, me, people on videos, authors of books, whatever. We can give you counsel, encouragement, advice, but we can't control this journey. This journey is something you learning to fly in the life of the Spirit is engaging God in this process. God, what do you have for me today? What do you want to show me today? If you have a need or a struggle, ask him about that. God, I don't understand what's going on here. Hold that before him for days, weeks at a time. Don't immediately go to a friend or write somebody an email saying, what should I do? Let him be the one who shows you and guides you. Make him part of your conversation. Ask him things. And don't necessarily wait for the answer to come immediately. It may come over time, but eventually something will drop into your heart and mind. The thought that's bigger than you, better than you, and you'll realize, oh, that's God showing me something. How do I walk in that? The invitation is for God to walk with you. I find as I hold things before God for days at a time, sometimes weeks. And then somewhere when I'm least expecting it, this little thought drops in my heart that answers the question I've been holding before him. But I become an active learner in this journey. I'm constantly engaged in a conversation with God about what I'd like to know, what I'm struggling with, but mostly I'm asking, what are you doing today? Who do you want to touch through my life? What do you want to show me about yourself?