The Dangers of Flying Too Low
II Samuel 11: 2-5
Introduction:
If you know anything about airplanes then you would know that the most important instrument in the cockpit is the “Altimeter.” The Altimeter determines the altitude of the plane. It lets the pilot know if they are either flying too high or too low.
For when a plane is flying too high and too fast it runs the risk of stalling out in mid air and crashing to the ground. But when a plane is flying too low it has the chance of running into several things. You may run into a tall building, some power lines or even houses on the ground. So as you can see there would be dangers in flying too low.
There are even dangers when we fly too low in our spiritual lives. It is God’s desire that we fly way above the clouds of turmoil and tribulations and rest in the assurance that He has it all in control.
In our Scripture text this morning we find ourselves examining the spiritual life of one of the Bible’s favorite characters, King David of Israel.
David had been flying high with God for several years up to this point. He was flying high when he killed the lion and the bear. He was flying high when he killed the giant from Gath called Goliath. He was flying high when he went out and won many battles for the nation of Israel under Saul’s leadership.
But as David was standing on the balcony of the palace he was flying a little too high because he had decided to take over the controls and not let God guide him any longer. He saw Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, bathing on the roof of her house and purposed in his heart to sin not only against God but also against, Bathsheba, Uriah and even himself.
Sometimes when we feel that we can run our lives our own way, we can run the risk of flying too low.
Illustration: There was this airline pilot who was flying from DFW to Mexico City. He had flown this route several times and had become very comfortable with the journey. But on this particular time a dense fog had set in and instead of relying on his instruments he choose to fly on his own instincts and knowledge. But there was a certain instrument in the cockpit called an, “Early Warning System” that would let you know when the plane got too low below the horizon on the altimeter. Because the pilot had flown this route several times he chose to ignore the warning system and fly on his own and turned it off. Well a few minutes later he crashed the plane into the side of a large mountain killing everyone onboard.
You see when we change our attitude about whom is in charge then we won’t worry about flying too low. When we realize that we are not fit to guide our own lives, when we realize, that it is not by our strength but by God’s power, When we realize that we are filthy rags then can we receive help from God.
When God is the pilot, Jesus is the co-pilot, and the Holy Spirit is the navigator, and all we have to do is sit back and relax and let go and let God.
There are 2 dangers that I won’t to inform you this morning when you fly too low.
I. When you fly too low you run the risk of destroying your family
You run the risk of creating at atmosphere of distrust and ultimately divorce
You run the risk of disappointing and destroying the respect your children have for you
You run the risk of putting your family at risk for satanic attack and destruction.
David flew too low and caused a woman to commit adultery. David flew too low and brought a child into a situation of chaos and confusion. David flew too low and committed murder while trying to cover up his sin and lies.
When we fly too low we finds ourselves trying to cover up our lies and web of deceit and destruction. But how many of you know that you can’t hide anything from God. Just like God pulled David’s covers back, so will he pull ours back. What we do in the dark will always come to the light.
And when we are exposed we find ourselves embarrassed and mortified. We either become the laughing stock of society or the model of finger pointing.
So don’t do anything that you don’t want the Lord to expose. Don’t do anything that you don’t want the church or your family to find out. Don’t do anything you don’t want your spouse and children to find out.
So therefore we must be careful to not fly too low and affect our families from a negative standpoint. We must learn to fly high above Satan’s traps and snares. Old folk used to say, “If you play with a DOG he will lick you in the face.” When you fly too low and play with the devil he will expose and exploit your secret sins.
Why? Because he has no vested interest in you. You claim to be saved and are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. If you were not saved and his, he would not expose and embarrass you but bless and protect you. So when you fly too low he exposes you before God and mocks his decision to redeem you.
But Satan does not understand the concept of GRACE. That while we where still sinners, Christ died for us. He forgives our sins and transgressions and put them into the sea of forgetfulness. Like David, we have the chance to repent and become a believer after God’s own heart.
II. When you fly too low you run the risk of destroying yourself spiritually
When David sinned he got himself in trouble with God from a spiritual standpoint which separated his relationship with God. As we know sin separates us from God and by David doing what he did it caused a rip in relationship with the Master.
As you know man is a spirit, that lives in a body but has a soul. There are also 3 types of Man: There is the Natural Man, the Carnal Man and the Spiritual Man. Before David sinned he was flying high with God from a spiritual standpoint but when he sinned it made him Carnal. He still was with God but he was out of fellowship with God.
It is like having cable. When you don’t have cable you can only get 5 channels but when you have cable you can receive at least 800 channels. Being Carnal is like not having cable and getting only a few channels but being Spiritual is like having cable and getting all 800 channels. When we fly too low on a consistent basis we become comfortable with getting only 5 channels. But when we fly high we enjoy the benefits of getting 800 channels and the joy of maintaining a relationship with the Lord.
I don’t know about you, but I would rather be connected to God’s cable company than the world’s TV station. With the world I only get 5 channels, some fuzz and a whole bunch of confusion.
But when I am connected to God’s cable company I have access to so much more:
Channels 1 –100, I receive the channels dealing with LOVE
Channels 101 – 200, I receive the channels dealing with JOY
Channels 201 – 300, I receive the channels dealing with PEACE.
Channels 301 – 400, I receive the channels dealing with LONGSUFFERING
Channels 401 – 500, I receive the channels dealing with GENTLENESS.
Channels 501 – 600, I receive the channels dealing with GOODNESS.
Channels 601 – 700, I receive the channels dealing with FAITH.
Channels 701 – 800, I receive the channels dealing with MEEKNESS.
Lastly, if we are flying too low that mean we are running out of fuel.
III. Flying too low may mean running out of fuel.
When a plane begins to run of gas it will basically start it’s decent down. For if you have no fuel then the engines will not receive enough power to keep you at a high level of altitude.
As Christians, we can start off flying too low when we begin to run out of spiritual fuel, better known as the Word of God. One writer once said, “Little Word, little power, Much Word, Much Power.”
The more of the Word of God we have in us, the more we are able to fly higher and closer to God.
So imagine if you will begin to run out of spiritual fuel and you pull into the gas station, which is the church and begin to fuel up. Because you are low in fuel you may be depressed, you may be frustrated, you may be confused and you may even be hurt. But lets what type of gas is available to you.
When you go get some spiritual fuel you realize: That God can’t be given a problem He can’t solve.
“But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” Matthew 19:6
When you get some spiritual fuel you realize: That God can’t leave you.
“And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” Genesis 28:15
When you get some spiritual fuel you realize: That God can’t stop loving you.
“I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
Jeremiah 31:3
When you get some spiritual fuel you realize: That God can’t make a loser.
“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.” II Cor. 2:14
When you get some spiritual fuel you realize: That God’s mercy can’t end.
“O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” Ps. 107:1
So after you receive your spiritual fuel then you are able to fly above the clouds of life. He will allow you to fly above the trials and tribulations of life. But in order to get to our destination we have to go through the storms. But before we go through the storms God has to prepare us by allowing us to be in what I like to call a “Holding Pattern.”
Many times God will allow a painful situation or a painful circumstance in our life to “swallow us up.” This season in our spiritual growth is a holding pattern.
We can’t move to the left or the right. All we can do is sit, like Jonah sat in the belly of that great fish, so God can have our undivided attention and speak to us.
God put Jonah in a holding pattern because He needed to speak to his heart. Jonah was all alone. There were no friends to call, no colleagues to drop by, no books to read, no food to eat, no interference’s, and no interruptions. He had plenty of time to sit, think, meditate and pray.
When we’re deep down in the midst of a difficult situation, God can talk to us. When He as our undivided attention, He can show us things about ourselves that we might not otherwise have seen.
Here a few of God’s Holding Patterns
1. When you are sick in your physical body and you have prayed, but God has not healed you yet, you are in a holding pattern.
2. When you are having problems with your children and you have put them on the altar, but God has not delivered them yet, you are in a holding pattern.
3. When you have been praying for the salvation of a loved one and they have not been saved yet, you are in a holding pattern.
4. When you are in a broken relationship and you have given it over to God, but it has not been restored yet, you are in a holding pattern.
5. When the door slam shut before you can knock on them, you are in a holding pattern.
When we are deep in the belly of a difficult situation, there are no interruptions. God has our undivided attention. All we can do is sit, think, meditate and pray. We cannot run from God because there are no mountains that are high enough, valleys that are low enough, rivers that are wide enough, rooms that are dark enough, or places that are hidden form Him.
We must remember to praise Him while we’re waiting and remember three things:
1. The holding pattern has a purpose
2. The holding pattern has a plan
3. The holding pattern has a process.
But as I go to my seat I am reminded of a pilot who was flying a plan across the country when planes were first invented. He needed some fuel so he descided to land on a small air strip which was right next to a cornfield.
When he was inside without his knowledge a rat climbed into his cockpit and went behind his control panels. When he was finished he took back off and climbed to about 500 feet when he heard some rustling around in his cockpit.
When he realized it was a rat he remembered what a rat could do to his controls so he chose to pull the plane to a higher altitude. He knew that the higher you fly the thinner the air becomes. So he pulled from 500 to 1,000 feet. From 1,000 to 2,000 feet. Then he heard the rat coughing and gagging so he kept pulling up on the stick. He went from 2,000 to 3,000 from 3,000 to 5,000 feet and all of the sudden the rat fell dead to the floor.
Satan is just like that rat in the life of a believer. When we fly too low he can come in and destroy our families. He can come in and destroy our children. He can come in and destroy our finances. He can come in and destroy our churches. He can come in and destroy our relationships with God.
But one day Jesus flew low to earth to take all of our sins and transgressions that we might have and everlasting life. They put him in the tomb and on the third day he got up and took us to a higher relationship with God. He saved us. He died for us, and He restored us. He rolled the stone away not so he could get out but so we could come in.
So if we are going to choke Satan out of our lives then we must pull back on our spiritual sticks. For the closer we get to God the more the devil gets out of our lives. The higher we fly to God the less we run the risk of flying to low and allowing the Devil to destroy our lives.
The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.
Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.
