Well, I did it again. On April 15, I went hang gliding. This time the weather was decidedly different than the first time I went. It was cold and windy. When I say cold, I mean 46 degrees on the mountain. They say you can subtract 10-20 degrees from that once you’re in the air. I watched my friend fly first. He had a short but very good flight. It took a good 45 minutes to get the glider set up again on top of the mountain. By this time the wind had really picked up.

We did our normal preflight then took off. From the moment we took off from the mountain I experienced a brand new sensation: Ridge Lift! Ridge lift is when the wind current coming off the mountain creates lift under the wings of the glider. It felt like someone was pushing us up into the air. It felt a little like turbulence in an airplane. It was an amazing sensation. Before I knew it, we were about 400 feet in the air above the LAUNCH site, nearly 2000 feet above our landing zone! My entire flight lasted about 30 minutes that day!

I fly tandem, which means I have an instructor flying with me. He handles take off and landings and any unexpected things that happen. I get to fly otherwise. Once I realized what it felt like to turn INTO the wind and create lift to make us go higher, it was (I confess) a bit addicting. We were literally soaring. At one point a couple of birds (I think they were vultures) soared right in front of us. They weren’t flapping their wings, they just extended them and gently floated up in the air. No effort. Sheer beauty.

Now, just picture this. I’m doing “S” turns (turns shaped like an “S”) into this wind, just circling around. In order to turn, you have to manipulate your hips (where most of your body weight resides) from side to side to turn the glider. So I was doing this over and over again, then the instructor pointed something out to me. I had an absolute DEATH GRIP on the bar. He said, “You know, you don’t have to hold that so tight, right?” Now, in my mind I’m thinking I can’t let go. It hasn’t fully registered with me yet that the bar I’m holding has absolutely NOTHING to do with supporting me in the air. I’m hanging by some cords and a carabiner.

Now at this point, I loosen my grip (or so I thought). Then the instructor finally said, “You know, this thing can pretty much fly itself. You just have to gently make corrections to the course when you need it. As a matter of fact you can just let go altogether and it’ll fly straight until the wind changes its direction.  Now, I’m still thinking “Riiiiight. Like I’m reaaallly going to let completely go of this bar.” And then he reiterated, “Really. You can just let go. Go ahead. Just let go.”

Everything in my mind was screaming, “NO! NO! NO!” And yet, I KNEW he was right. That bar had nothing to do with my support. It had everything to do with my security. And so… I…. just let go. It was an even odder sensation. I was just hanging there by the cords and carabiners over 2000 feet in the air. Was I terrified?  No. You know what I was? FREE! The glider flew smoothly. We effortlessly rose in the air. Every once in a while (with one arm) I would gently adjust our glide angle and then the glider would turn, correct itself, and fly on. We absolutely SOARED. It was so much better than when I was trying to man handle it into the direction I wanted it to go!

It was at this point that God began to speak to me about many things in my life. (No my life wasn’t flashing in front of my eyes) I realized how much of my life gets screwed up by holding on too tightly and trying to guide it myself. You see, I’m a fixer. My brain has a solution for every problem that presents itself. The problem with that is MY solution isn’t always GOD’S solution! I started thinking about some bad situations in my life that could have easily been avoided if I had simply stepped out of the way and let go.

How many times in my life have a grabbed ahold of the control bar and attempted to steer when all I had to do is let go and let the wind of His Spirit guide me.  God is able to guide us SO much better than we can when we attempt to guide ourselves. I know you know that (just like I do), but knowing it and APPLYING it are two different things! If only we would just let go and let the Holy Spirit guide us where He wants us to go. If only, when we question where God is taking us, we would simply let go and allow Him to lead us, we could find ourselves at a much higher place than we have ever known before.

The next time you are faced with a problem, my encouragement to you is this: Just let go and let God!

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31