In the aftermath of John Kennedy, Jr.'s, death, the Chicago Tribune ran an article about flying. In it, amateur pilot Stephen Hedges writes about the difficulty of flying a plane by instruments alone—a necessary skill if you want to fly at night or in fog. Without it, it is easy for a pilot to fall into an uncontrolled bank and crash.

During one instrument lesson, Hedges noted, "I flew the headings and turns as instructed, but even with 10 hours of instrument flying experience already in my logbook, I was amazed at how quickly the plane slid into a banking turn if I diverted my attention for just a few moments. The first time it happened, a pang of panic shot through me, a momentary fear that made it even more difficult to comprehend what the plane was doing."

But when he heard his instructor next to him calmly say, "Watch your bank," he quickly leveled the plane.

There are a lot of times in the Christian life when we're forced to fly in fog or at night, when it's hard to get our bearings, when we can't see the horizon and get the perspective necessary to stay level. At such times, it's doubly important to keep our eyes fixed on God's guiding Word and to stay attentive to his calming guidance.