There are times when it appears the life we once knew has been taken over by unseen, hostile forces. In those situations, a believer has another option besides bailing out on life and calling it quits.

A few days ago, a Marine Corps F-35 fighter jet went missing after the pilot ejected over North Carolina. The jet continued to fly 60 miles before crashing. The Air Traffic Controllers had lost contact with the abandoned jet and were not receiving any hits from the onboard transponder. The public was asked to help locate the multi-million-dollar aircraft. 

The debris field of the jet was located a few days later. The day of the crash the pilot parachuted into the backyard of a home where the resident called 911 to report the pilot’s whereabouts.

A few concerns were rightly raised. How could the government lose track of the most sophisticated military aircraft in the world and not know where it was and what went wrong? There is a question on a lot of people’s minds, “Did someone hack the onboard computer system?” 

As someone who used to fly civilian aircraft, I have been intrigued by the advancement of flight systems for civilian aircraft that a non-military pilot can purchase and install. These autoland systems are activated by a large control button that a non-pilot can press if the pilot-in-command is incapacitated.  When the autoland system is activated, it will take over the controls of the aircraft, alert Air Traffic Control of an in-flight emergency, and then fly the aircraft and its passengers to the nearest suitable airport and safely land.  

You would think the military would have such a system on an F-35 to ensure the safe landing of an aircraft unless the onboard systems were compromised. The reality is that all computer systems have a back door that is hackable by someone no matter how confident we are in our current systems security.

In some ways, it seems like our society is being taken over. It’s akin to being a pilot having some unseen force taking over the controls. For those who have an aware faith, the world and its systems are taking us to a place we don’t want to go. Without realizing we have one single significant option of our faith that can override our concern, panic will set in and other spirits besides the Holy Spirit, will take over the controls. 

That panic button is labeled “Trust.” It can’t be hacked. Trust disempowers whatever is trying to take control of our lives producing the immobilizing affect of fear. When we exercise the option of trust, we won’t have to bail out of our Kingdom assignment. Only by placing our trust in the Lord’s faithfulness can we keep flying and make a safe landing.

We should refuse to fly our faith into the uncertain skies of the future without having a panic button installed prominently in our lives. We will need it when in times of uncertainty our faith gets hijacked by fear, and it appears we no longer have control over what’s happening and it has become obvious that someone or something without a Godly intent is attempting to take over the control of our lives.