In 1943, during World War Two, there was a song that rose to the top of the popularity charts called, “A Wind and A Prayer.” It was later featured in a hit movie in 1944. The song was about a twin-engine bomber that was returning from a mission with severe battle damage, including the loss of an engine. While such a song being a #1 hit may sound strange to us today, the times were different and the country was eager to support patriotic songs. If you want to see the words, they are out there on the Internet.
As you may have guessed from the title, the song is about a crew in a desperate situation, one which could cost them their lives if the plane did not make it back to its base, and the best hope, beyond the skills and knowledge of the pilots, was to place their faith in God to help them return. Since the song was a hit, it is obvious that they did exactly that.
How about us? Life is not always what we plan it to be. Along the way, there are many forks in the road and each one we choose has a direct impact on our future life. Equally important, each fork we don’t choose also has an impact. Our set of forks may be which college to attend, which career to follow, and which person to date and, perhaps, marry. The means we use for our choices may be as whimsical as flipping a coin, for real or at least mentally. It may relate to our own interests or following a family tradition, or rejecting one. Each fork leads to its own path and that path can stretch out for a long time.
Did you make a good decision or a bad one? Did your path seem to start out in one direction and then veer elsewhere? Taking one fork may simply lead to a path with other forks further out in time. How do you know which one to take? Is there one method that is better than the rest? Perhaps you used advice from family or friends. Maybe you admired a certain teacher and decided to follow that path. Did you just take a look at the choices and follow a “gut instinct?” How did your choices pan out for you? Good? Bad? Still unknown?
If your choice was the right one, did you pat yourself on the back, at least mentally? Did you stop for a moment and see that perhaps you had spiritual guidance from God that helped you or guided you into the right path? Not many of us remember to do that latter, to thank God for His help, even if we remembered to ask for it. There are times we don’t think to ask but God, out of His love for us, steps in anyway.
What do you do if it is the wrong choice and you are stuck with it? It doesn’t matter whether it is a job, a relationship, a marriage, or something else, the bottom line is a situation with disaster written all over it and you aren’t sure what is going to happen. Are you going to crash and burn? Maybe you can’t see a way out, but God can. When all else is going wrong, and a negative ending seems inevitable, asking God for His help should not be the last resort, but if often is. That is when God can reach out a hand and hold you up, guide you to a better place, so that you do have a safer ending, and stand by to help you figure out the next fork and the direction you should take.
The 1943 hit song was about a plane and crew surviving with the hand of God helping them. How about you? Do ask for His help up front or do you just wait until you have a problem or are in trouble to ask God for His help? God is always there for you, to hold you up in the dark times and help you make the right choices, to choose the correct fork in the road, during the better times. Always remember that
God is your eternal partner, always there, whether bidden or unbidden. Lift up your problems and your victories to Him. Call on Him in time of need and allow Him to guide you to a safe destination and a safe landing.
What do you do in these times? Do you just wing it? Whether it is large or small, you have to make a career decision. Are you going to “wing” it and hope for the best, or are you going to add a second wing, a second engine, God’s help, so you can fly to the right path and the best destination?
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