Stephen Rowland: 'Listen To My Voice'
I heard a first hand account of a pastor who nearly lost his life on a small airplane in Alaska.
He and a lawyer friend were going to buy a ticket and fly commercial back home, but another pastor pilot convinced them to save some money and fly with him. They agreed and took off in that small airplane from Anchorage.
Eventually they found themselves flying through dense clouds with no visibility. The pilot became disoriented and passed out. His eyes actually rolled back into his head — unconscious. His passenger pastor shook him violently trying to wake him up to no avail.
The lawyer sitting in the back seat said, “We’re all going to die, aren’t we?”
“Yes, that’s a real possibility,” replied the pastor.
He then handed the microphone back to the lawyer and told him to call for help as he tried to wake the pilot. The lawyer started yelling “Help, help, help — is anyone out there?” A bit later a freighter pilot responded — “Is this an emergency? Don’t you know any radio etiquette?”
After explaining the pilot was unconscious, that freighter pilot started giving them instructions and finally got them in contact with the Anchorage airport tower.
That air traffic controller was very calm and gave them simple instructions on how to turn that plane around; they were headed straight towards a mountain. He repeated certain things over and over: “Listen to my voice.” “Don’t look at the storm outside.” “In your panic, there will be voices in your head telling you to do this or that, don’t listen to them — listen only to my voice.” “You can’t see me, but I can see you.”
“If you don’t listen to my voice, you will die.”
That pastor listened and did everything he was instructed to do. By this time, other pilots in the area were listening to the conversation, occasionally giving him encouragement. As they flew near to Anchorage the air traffic controller described the landing zone and the lights in the shape of a cross on that runway. Step by step, the pastor landed that plane amateurishly — a total of seven times before it finally came to stability on that runway. He had “ listened to my voice,” and their lives were saved.
It was emotionally moving for me personally to hear this pastor recount that harrowing misadventure. His voice was breaking into tears at several points. The correlation between that air traffic controller’s instructions and the instructions of his Savior were not lost on him.
Jesus stated, “My sheep know my voice and I know them, they follow me: I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” We cannot see our Savior, but he sees us. Sometimes the storms of this life threaten to overwhelm us into psychological paralysis, depression or worse. There will be all kinds of people telling us what we should do; all kinds of voices in our heads. In times like these, do we make the effort to hear the voice of our Savior? Have we ever even tried?
Are we headed “toward that cross” or listening in panic to the other voices? Can we truly trust someone who we cannot see? I have found throughout my lifetime that there has been a few specific times that God has gotten my attention and impressed my heart in a particular direction. I was headed the wrong way and was so glad I “listened to the voice.” What does God’s voice sound like? That I cannot answer because different people describe it differently.
This is where your rationality and your faith in Christ can come into conflict. “Hearing voices in your head” will lead most intelligent people to urge you to make that appointment with a psychiatrist — and sometimes they are right. But if you are a genuine Christian with your faith in Jesus Christ, you can learn to distinguish between His urgings, His impressions, His premonitions from all the other “voices.” There’s been a handful of times in my life I heard actual words — in a voice similar to mine but distinctively different, speaking with authority and compassion. Each time, I was glad I had listened.
That recent Walmart mass shooter (a manager!) was listening to the wrong voices and was actually aware of it. What a shame and awful tragedy. Some folks have schizophrenia with voices competing inside their head — they need mental health professionals. But there is an actual “leading” or “impression” that comes from your Savior if you can learn through experience to identify it as a Christian. I’m so glad He loves us and cares enough to help us occasionally divert from disaster in our lives if we are living for Him.
“Listen to my voice.”
Stephen Rowland, who has served as an assistant pastor, resides in Southern Middle Tennessee and holds a Master’s degree in Biblical literature, was a commencement speaker for Global University in 2012 and has authored three Christian books.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Stephen Rowland: 'Listen To My Voice'
