I was calmly sitting at my dining table working on the computer when all of a sudden … the thundering roar of fighter jets blasted past overhead!
Whoa!
The Blue Angels are in town! WhooHoo!
(for a second there it made me think of the trumpet sound of Jesus Christ coming back again!)
There is nothing like the adrenaline rush of hearing fighter jets roaring past overhead!
You bet I dropped everything I was doing and went to the online flight-tracker website to watch the action.
Everyone get out of the way! The Blue Angels are here! … and it’s practice day!
All the air traffic (on the flight-tracking website) immediately started changing course to re-route around the practice area.
Oh this is going to be fun! Last year I didn’t know about the flight-tracking website. But this year I can watch in real time as the Blue Angels practice. WhooHoo!
Check it out … here is the beginning of practice …
(By the way … those two grey “ghost” planes are parked on the ground at Boeing Field. They aren’t actually in the air.)
Yes … I did indeed sit there and watch the entire Blue Angels’ practice session. It was highly entertaining.
Here is about 20 minutes into the practice-run …
(The difference in colors indicate the difference in altitude. Orange is the lowest altitude. Yellow is the next altitude up, just a bit higher.)
Here is a little over halfway through the practice-run …
As I watched the practice-run unfold before my eyes, I couldn’t help but think how this is what each of our lives is like.
From our own perspective “down on the ground,” as we each live our lives from day to day it looks like this …
We head off to college. It’s exciting. Off we go! Just like all 4 Blue Angel fighter jets taking off from the runway in formation at the same time! WhooHoo! Off they go! From our perspective it’s like this …
We get married. It’s exciting. From our perspective it’s like this …
We have our first child. It’s exciting. From our perspective it’s like this …
Life is hard … work takes everything out of us … we feel like we can’t keep up … and from our perspective it’s like this … with the formation getting ready for a pass across Lake Washington, but one of the jets hasn’t quite caught up yet …
They’re just about to dip down for their run across the lake … but the one jet still hasn’t quite caught up yet. Will he make it in time??
At the very last second the last jet tucks in tight with the formation … and down they swoop for their run across the lake!
And then right back up again …
This is what our life looks like from our perspective “down on the ground” as we live each day.
Meanwhile, from Heaven’s perspective our life looks like this … this is about 3/34th of the way through the practice.
We could think of this as us being about 3/4th of the way through our life.
By 3/4th of the way through our life we’re flying high! We’ve conquered at our careers. We done some amazing things in life. We’ve traveled some. We have a nice home to life in. We’re flying high in life, and from our perspective “down on the ground” it’s like this …
Here you can see the practice-run about 10 minutes before it finished.
This right here is what our life looks like from Heaven’s perspective.
“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” – Psalm 139:16
Each of our lives is like this final screenshot of the Blue Angels’ practice-run. The entire practice had been planned out in advance, and the practice day just was a run-through of what had already been written down.
The flightpath you see in orange and yellow streaks was pre-planned before the Blue Angels ever arrived in town.
The purpose of practice day was to run through what was already pre-planned.
Just because the flightpath and the flight-plan had been pre-planned in advance this did not mean everything would go perfectly. The success or failure of the practice-run was contingent on the pilot following the plan.
The success or failure of the practice-run was contingent on the pilot having the skills to do the maneuvers. The success or failure of the practice-run was contingent on the pilot having the mental and physical fortitude to do the maneuvers.
This is each of our lives. This right here is each of our lives.
Our lives are just a “practice-run.”
This life we live here on this earth is not all that there is. Our life we live here on this earth is not meant to be “heaven” for us.
This life we live here on this earth is a “practice-run” for heaven.
Many people spend their entire lives in an effort to create a functional “heaven on earth” for themselves.
But our life we live right now is only a “practice-run.”
Jesus prayed: “Our Father in heaven … your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” – Matthew 6:9-10
How are we doing in our “practice-run”?
The success or failure of our “practice-run” is contingent on whether or not we follow [aka: obey] the “flight-plan” God has set forth.
The success or failure of our “practice-run” is contingent on whether or not we have exercised and gained skills in using the Scriptures. The success or failure of our “practice-run” is contingent on whether or not we have the mental fortitude to follow through with the “flight-plan.”
Are we loving others the way Jesus instructed us to love others? This is part of the pre-determined “flightpath.” This is part of the pre-determined “flight-plan.” (John 13:34-35)
Are we loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? This is part of the pre-determined “flightpath” and “flight-plan.” (Matthew 22:37 / Deuteronomy 6:5 / Mark 12:30)
Are we setting our hearts and minds on things above rather than on the things of this earth? This is part of the pre-determined “flightpath” and “flight-plan.” (Colossians 3:2)
Perhaps you might be wondering: “How can I know what God’s pre-determined flightpath and flight-plan is for my life?? I want to have a successful “practice-run.” But I don’t really know what the flight-plan is.”
God tells us the “flightpath” and “flight-plan” in the instruction manual he has given us – the Bible.
For example:
“Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed.” – Colossians 3:5
“Do not lie to each other.” – Colossians 3:9
“You must rid yourselves of anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language.” – Colossians 3:8
“Be known for compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” – Colossians 3:12
“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.” – Colossians 3:13
“Be thankful.” – Colossians 3:15
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” – Colossians 3:16
Just as the Blue Angels are being diligent to do a good practice-run in the air over my city, so too we each should pause to ask ourselves: How is my own “practice-run” going??
When our final day on this earth comes, and we complete our “practice-run” … and we step into the unending glories of Heaven, will we hear God say to us: “Well done good and faithful one. You flew an excellent practice-run.”
