Spiritual Disorientation

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The winner of this giveaway is Elvisgirl– congratulations!

By Chuck Black
owner of Perfect Praise Publishing, author of the Kingdom Series

“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Ephesians 6:16

Over the past few years, I have been given the privilege of mentoring an outstanding young man who has shown a consistent commitment to honor the Lord and grow in his relationship with Christ. Recently he began to encounter an onslaught of spiritual attacks because he was facing a major life-changing and kingdom-building event. The attacks came in the form of doubt…doubt primarily about truth and salvation. In the middle of the night, alone, and away from home, he could feel the presence of darkness pressing in upon him and the foundation he was standing on seemed to shake.

For anyone that is a believer, is serious about pursuing a relationship with Jesus, and is doing His kingdom work, spiritual attacks will come. The form of such attacks is varied, and Satan knows which one is most effective with each of us. For our children it is paramount that we prepare them for the challenges that they will face regarding spiritual attacks from the evil one. As Ephesians 6:16 says, it is the shield of faith that will quench all of the fiery darts of the wicked. Therefore, we need to continually find ways to build the faith of our children.

God gives us the evidence we need to build faith both in ourselves and in our children. My three favorite ways to build faith based on God’s evidence are to observe creation, to witness changed lives, and to remember answered prayers. Scripture supports this in Romans 1:20, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and Matthew 21:22. One of Satan’s common attacks against a young Christian is doubt, for once they leave the protection of a Christian home, the fiery darts of worldly intellectualism, political correctness, and spiritual diversity, will bombard their minds which will cause them to question what you have taught them. Bible knowledge alone is not enough to withstand these attacks, for only the shield of faith can protect them at this critical juncture in life. If we have only invested our time into training our children on Bible facts and doctrine, we have sent them forth ill-prepared to handle what will invariably come their way. We must daily find ways to build their faith. Take God-walks into the country, invite a radically converted Christian over for supper and talk about the transforming power of Jesus Christ, and show them how God has touched your life by His answering specific prayers.

For my young friend, working through this episode of doubt took many days of prayer and counsel. The Lord gave me a simple story to share that helped him through. On one of my earlier flights in the F-16, I was a wingman flying close formation with my flight lead who was a much more experienced pilot than I. Close formation means that our wingtips were three feet apart, and we were flying at 480 miles per hour. We were ascending up into a cloud cover that was much thicker than I had anticipated. As we entered the clouds, I was close enough to my flight lead to keep in formation as he began to lead us up to clear skies. In our ground training, our instructors warned us about something called “spatial disorientation.” This is a strange effect that nearly every pilot that has flown in weather experiences. We have semicircular canals in our inner ear that tell us what our orientation to the earth is and give us a sense of balance. In an aircraft, the visual cues of the horizon helps keep our inner ear oriented. Once we lose sight of the horizon, the motion of the aircraft can cause our inner ears to falter and we then become “spatially disoriented” thinking that up is down or left is right.

In such cases, a trained pilot recognizes the situation by monitoring and relying upon the instruments of the aircraft. However, the feeling is often so powerful and overwhelming that pilots cannot overcome what their inner ears are telling them and end up losing control of the aircraft and crashing…which is bad. Hearing about spatial disorientation and then experiencing it are worlds apart. On this mission, I began to experience severe spatial disorientation while flying just off the wing of my flight lead. After a few minutes in the clouds, I felt as though my jet was ninety degrees to the horizon and we were plummeting to the earth. The feeling was so powerful that I could hardly make myself stay where I knew I needed to be, right on my flight lead’s wing. I quickly checked my instruments and they confirmed that my jet was straight and level. I had to trust my flight lead in spite of the overwhelming doubt that I was experiencing. After a few more minutes of battling spatial disorientation, we broke through the clouds and our jets were perfectly level with the earth. My inner ear immediately recalibrated and I felt great relief. It was a sobering realization to know that if I had trusted myself and not my flight lead and the instruments, I would probably have crashed and died that day.

After sharing this story with my young Christian friend, I explained that there are times when we can become “spiritually disoriented”, especially as a young believer facing stormy times. During these times, Satan will attack and it is important that we trust our flight lead, Jesus Christ, and our instruments, God’s Holy Word, to see us through. Our faith must stand solidly upon the foundation of Jesus, the chief corner stone as described in Ephesians 2:20 and upon the pillar of truth, the Bible. Faith like love is not based on our feelings, it is a choice. Even in times of doubt we can choose to believe and know that just beyond the clouds of doubt is a clear blue horizon waiting for us to journey towards.

Dad…Mom…I encourage you to take every opportunity to build the faith of your children, for they will one day face the fiery darts of the evil one just as you have. Give them a shield to protect them!

Prayer:
“Heavenly Father, please give us the wisdom we need to help build faith in ourselves and in our children. As they go forth from our homes, protect and guide them against the fiery darts of the wicked. In Jesus name, Amen.”

Would you like the opportunity to win a a copy of Chuck’s brand new book, which releases tomorrow June 17th?

Sir Kendrick & the Castle of Bel Lione is the first book in the new series The Knights of Arrethtrae. The new books are a companion series to The Kingdom Series.

Knights of valor…
Knights of courage…
Knights of the Prince!

“Chuck Black transports readers back to the days of chivalry and valor, clash
ing steel, and noble conflict—but ultimately he transports readers to the eternal triumph of the King who reigns” -Douglas Bond, author of King’s Arrow and Guns of Thunder

“A Pilgrim’s Progress for the Xbox generation! That’s what Chuck Black has achieved in his Kingdom Series. It’s an allegory of the whole Bible told in the medieval format of noble knights and scathing sword fights, quests and dragons, betrayal, and final victory by the true Prince over the Dark Knight.” -Dave Jackson, author of the Trailblazer novels.

What makes the man in your life such a great husband? To enter this giveaway, tell us 5 reasons your husband is your “knight in shining armour.”