“Spatial disorientation is the inability to correctly interpret aircraft attitude, altitude or airspeed, in relation to the Earth or point of reference. Spatial disorientation is a condition in which an aircraft pilot’s perception of direction does not agree with reality. While it can be brought on by disturbances or disease within the vestibular system, it is more typically a temporary condition resulting from flight into poor weather conditions with low or no visibility. Under these conditions the pilot may be deprived of an external visual horizon, which is critical to maintaining a correct sense of up and down while flying. A pilot who enters such conditions will quickly lose spatial orientation if there has been no training in flying with reference to instruments.”

Spacial disorientation is truly a frightening possibility for any pilot. There have been pilots who have suffered from this effect that actually flew their planes into the ground not realizing what direction they were going in. The only possibility of not succumbing to the effects of spacial disorientation is the reliance upon the instruments. Everything in the pilot may be telling them that they are right side up while they are in bad weather. The trained pilot would then be able to look at his instruments for the last and final word. If the instruments disagreed with his gut feeling and said that he was actually upside down, the seasoned pilot would then trust his instruments and correct the plane accordingly.

I don’t know about you guys but the idea of going against my gut feeling in favor of what some gauges were telling me sounds absolutely terrifying. I guess the bottom line for me is that I tend to trust my gut reactions. If my gut tells me that I should probably steer clear of a person, I will tend to listen to it. If I’m on the golf course and my gut tells me that I should hit a 9 iron but the yardage marker indicates an 8 iron as the better option, I’ll usually go with the 9 iron. The reality is that sometimes this tendency to go with my senses yields a positive result but sometimes our gut reactions are just plain wrong.

Acknowledging the possibility that we can be wrong at the deepest levels can be somewhat alarming because this means we can’t trust ourselves. We need to learn how to trust our instruments. This is one area where having a relationship with God is so crucial. God is never wrong and he is never fooled by potentially misleading variables. He knows when that business decision is a bad idea even though things seem so good from your perspective. He knows when you should not enter into that friendship even though there seems to be such a good connection between the two of you. God operates from a completely unhindered point of view but this does us no good unless we decide to trust him.

Much like the pilot who needs to disregard his own senses when they are disagreeing with his instruments, so we need to disregard our own senses when they disagree with the revealed will of God. How does this look practically? Here are a few examples:

1. You feel that there is a woman at work who is not your wife who understands you better than anyone else. Your gut is telling you that you should follow your heart to be with her and let the chips fall where they may. God’s word says that adultery is evil no matter how you slice it.

2. You feel that the government is wrong in the way they tax you so your gut tells you that it can’t be wrong to cheat on your taxes. God’s word mandates honesty and integrity in all circumstances thus dictating that your gut is misleading you in this particular case.

3. You made a promise to your kids but something came up and you feel that it is totally understandable for you to go back on your word in this case. God’s word tells you that your “yes” should mean “yes” and your “no” should mean “no.” In this case you should disregard your gut and go with the wisdom of God’s word.

I’m sure you could think of a ton of examples but I believe the point is clear. Similar to the pilots who have to disregard their senses in favor of the instruments, so we must learn to disregard our senses at times in favor of the revealed will of God in his word. Many pilots have chosen to disregard their instruments in bad weather to follow what their senses were telling them and suffered catastrophic consequences. Many people over the centuries have disregarded what God was telling them in favor of their senses and also suffered terrible consequences. The ball is in our court to cultivate a deep relationship with God where we lean on his wisdom and understanding especially at times when it disagrees with our gut reaction to a given situation.

(this post was inspired by a message by Geoff Surratt)