When pilots are taught to fly they undergo rigorous training in flight simulators and have to learn and memorize all manner of flight maneuvers. They are taught to release the controls and “stall the plane” so that a plane will level off instead of plummet to the earth.

A pilot in a flight simulator encountered such a situation; his plane had just descended 1500 feet and was accelerating in the wrong direction. As his heart started to pound, his instruction manual flashed in his mind and he remembered, “in a stall, release the controls and the plane will automatically go into straight and level flight.” So with his blood rushing, he quickly released the controls, and the plane leveled off and all was well. His instructor congratulated him, and the student learned that day to respect the flight simulator and totally understood why commercial pilots are extensively trained and re-trained every six months.

Some pilots have walked out of the simulator room with sweat pouring down their shirts–because they know that they have to faultlessly execute the right procedures in the right way, every time to get the right results. If the pilots don’t perform the drills correctly–if they give up and bail and crash the simulator, they’re instantly fired.

Is there anything you’re engaged in that has caused you to bail and crash? Or, stop at the wrong time because you hit an obstacle? Reflect back on your life: was there anything that you were excited about until you hit an obstacle? Have you ever reacted like the children of Israel who were excited about going to the Promised Land until they realized they had to conquer some giants and instead they got tired, complacent and quit?

When you’re building momentum to fulfill’s God’s call on your life, you have to keep the flames burning strongly on the inside of you. You must not give up.