Complete Trust

Have you ever truly trusted someone? I mean you trust them to the point that you are sure they will save your life if you ever needed them to. In my own life, I know of some instances where this is true, but rarely do I really have to demonstrate that trust. Recently I had an instance that left me thinking. Earlier this week I had to go for my Aviation Water Survival refresher. Every 4 years all active aviators have to get signed off that we can demonstrate proper water survival as well as get reminded of different survival techniques. It is actually great training. Well, one of the evolutions to the training is the helicopter dunker. Granted, I don't fly helicopters, but it is a required training due to the fact that I could possibly be a helo passenger. The way it works is 7 guys strap into the mock helo. They then drop it in the water. Because a helo is top heavy it will immediately flip upside down while it is filling with water. In a matter of mere seconds, you are completely underwater and upside down. You then have to un-strap and swim out a "legitimate" door (the giant opening seen here in the back is not a legitimate door ... just a trainingism). Now it seems just thinking about it that that would be a little sketchy training ... and it definitely can be ... but we are well prepared. But here is where it gets "worse". On our last dunk, we are required to wear blacked out goggles to simulate crashing at night and having to feel your way out. The key is to never loose your reference point and remain calm while "feeling" your way out. Your also instructed that in the trainer if something goes wrong, put your hands on your head and driver will immediately pull you out. Now I have done this before because as I said it was a refresher so I was not really worried about it. Even with the fact that I was put in a "hard to get out from seat", I had no worries. We dropped in the water and flipped upside down and I unlatched myself from the seat with no problem. As I reached for my next reference point, something "undesired" happened. I got kicked by the guy sitting across from me as he was making his way out. Though I can't lay blame on a certain person since I was blindfolded, keep in mind across from me was a guess VIP (a certain politician) in our class that seemed a little anxious about all the water stuff we had to do. Kicking is a no no in the dunker for this exact reason. When I was kicked I lost my reference point. I attempted to establish myself as to where I thought I was, but I was completely wrong. I ended up trapping myself in a corner. Even if I would have removed the goggles I was not in place to quickly escape. Before I was completely out of breathe, I gave up to putting my hands on my head and being pulled out by a diver. Happily I can say I never felt worried and after I caught my breath, I got back in and did the evolution over with no problems.

After I left the trainer that day, I did get to thinking about the whole dunker evolution. Like I said, at no point was I really worried about my safety. I trusted that no matter what the divers (who I did not even know) were trained well enough to pull me out. I had complete trust in them from the beginning. That got me to thinking - How often do I fail in trusting the Master of the Universe? Each and ever day, I find my myself trapped in a corner and running out of air. I take it all on myself that I am the only one who can fix the current problem I am in. And so most of the time I take it on myself to continue struggling vice trusting completely that God will pull me out of the situation. In fact I am usually I am still struggling to get out when God dives in a rescues me anyhow. But how awesome it is when I realize, I am not going to make it on my own and I place my hands on my head at the same moment He saves me. -Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. PROVERBS 3:5

-kcH