It was everyone’s nightmare. It was January 1982.
Edmund Gravely and his wife Janice were flying from the Rocky Mount-Wilson Airport in North Carolina to Statesboro, Georgia. 61 year old Edmund was an experienced pilot.
At 15,000 feet Edmund Gravely DIED at the controls of his small plane, a Mooney M20.
Although Janice had flown with him many times, she did not know how to fly herself. Somehow, she managed to keep the plane in the air for two hours, until it ran out of fuel.
During that time she continually radioed for help. Several Air Traffic Controllers heard her screaming, “Help! Help! Won’t someone help me? My husband and pilot is dead.”
Although her messages were received, she never heard a reply. Why? Because she kept changing channels. She kept calling for help, but constantly changed channels, not waiting at any channel long enough for a response from a Controller.
When the plane ran out of fuel, Janice somehow managed to land the plane. It clipped a pine tree, shearing off the right wing, and made a ‘pancake’ landing, but there was no fire. Janice Gravely survived the crash. Although she had a broken pelvis, she managed to crawl for forty-five minutes to a farmhouse where she found help.
Too often we are like Janice Gravely.
This is an illustration of how we cry out to God for help,
but keep switching the channels before God’s message comes through!
Waiting is one of the hardest things to do in life,
especially during a time of crisis.
No one likes to wait, but the Scriptures often urge us to wait on the Lord and to wait patiently on the Lord.
We are happy to pray and seek His help,
but how often do we turn to other sources,
look for human guidance,
or try to work out just HOW God will answer our cry for help.
We are quick to make a commitment,
asking God to take over,
but are we equally quick to abandon it when we don’t get immediate results?
Philippians 4:6 says
“Let your requests be made known UNTO GOD” . . . just “unto God”
NOT unto anyone else . . . “unto God”
HE is the One who will work things out.
We just need to Let Go and Let God.
When we seek God’s intervention, we need to LEAVE it with Him
and Him ONLY and to STAY TUNED for the answer.
C H Spurgeon:
Because God is the LIVING God, He CAN hear.
Because He is a LOVING God, He WILL hear.
Because He is our COVENANT God, He has bound Himself to hear.
D M McIntyre:
Pray until you pray.
Robert Leighton:
We LIE to God in prayer if we do not RELY on Him afterwards.
MEETING IN THE CLOUDS 
Great story of Gods protection and the lesson for us to make sure we dont cut the communication lines between ourselves and our Lord. We mightened land our plan on our own , I`m sure I“d crash.
Thanks Angela
Ron
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Thanks Ron.
I crash whenever I break my communication lines. We need to keep that line open at all times. He is always waiting at His end!
We serve an amazing God!
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What a wonderful message Angela giving encouragement and light, thank you my dear friend, yes indeed we are to wait on the Lord.
Christian Love Anne
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Thanks Anne.
And we never wait in vain . He is ALWAYS ready to answer our needs and He ALWAYS leads us in the right direction.
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http://birdmartin.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/the-one-lovely-blog-award/
I nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award..
— Bird
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Thank you Bird. I am honoured.
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Pingback: The One Lovely Blog Award « Everyone Has A Story
I can’t say I’m enamoured with flying, but I really did take the controls of a fast twin engined Mooney once. I think it’s true to say I prefer 4 wheels to two wings. Your story reminds me of one I heard recently where a similar thing happened….try;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9184889/Woman-80-lands-aircraft-after-husband-dies-at-controls.html
for an even more amazing story. What she learnt years before came to her aid many years later, the same could be said of hearing the Gospel and letting it lie dormant….make the call to a living God and see how he’s ready & able to help.
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Thanks for the link to the Collins story.
The thing that encourages me in the many years of childrens ministry is the fact that the Seed has been planted. Those children really did MEMORISE the Word (thoroughly memorise, along with questions, answers and applications) and it is still there, ready for the Holy Spirit to use as He wills.
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Oh Mentor Angela . . this couldn’t be put any better. Just this morning I heard a devotion on the radio about faith . ..what were we putting our faith in. If it was in money, our jobs, our spouse, children, our home, we are going to be let down. The only one that we should have faith in is Jesus. Then here I hear to pray in faith and wait, for He has heard and will answer. No need to go everywhere else asking. Just a great affirmation! Thank you! And I loved the quotes . . .and to hear someone else enjoyed Andrew Murray! God bless you as you wait on your amazing God!
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Thanks Debbie. This was a lesson the Lord taught me many years ago. I was convinced I had left a problem in His hands, but He emphasized to me “unto God” and showed me that while I had committed it to Him, I was also trying to work out HOW He was going to fix it. Maybe He would get this person to do that and that person to do this etc. I was convicted and when I left it ENTIRELY with Him, the problem disappeared.
What an amazing God!
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Your post hits me right between the eyes, Angela. Thank you.
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Well, I hope it didn’t hurt, Todd, but I hope it helps.
We serve an amazing God!
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Thank you for sharing. It is so important to listen. God hears us the first time that we cry to him. When we still ourselves and know that he is God, his peace floods us. We hear his voice and get direction. We can come to a good landing without breaking a bone! :-D
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Exactly! God always hears. The fault is NEVER with Him. It is MY fault if I am impatient.
We serve an amazing God!
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Let us stay tuned to the channel of our request until we hear “that still, small voice”! It WILL come, just like it did for Jeremiah! I was living in Georgia raising our children in 1982 and clearly remember the news about this lady’s flying episode!
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Yes, it WILL come because God is faithful and will ALWAYS honour His Word.
I read a few newspaper articles about the Gravely crach landing. She was a Christian and was singing hymns and praying as she landed the plane.
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So good Angela! One of my favorite boopks in the last year was Andrew Murray’s devotional “Waiting On God” May I share this? There are many in my circle who would benefit from it.
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Share it as much as you like JE. I read many of Andrew Murray’s books in my first years of new life.
We serve an amazing God!
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We can never over estimate the importance of waiting upon the Lord. (Just as you say ESPECIALLY during times of great trial and stresses)
Ps 27:13-14 (AKJV)
13) I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14) Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Thank you Angela for reminding us of this ever important truth!
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Calling out to our Father SHOULD be our natural response, and waiting on Him should be our pleasure and a means to settle and gain strength. He has ALWAYS undertaken for us and we KNOW we can trust Him, no matter what the circumstances.
Thanks for adding those pertinent Scriptures.
We serve an amazing God who DELIGHTS to undertake for us.
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Reblogged this on YOU DECIDE.
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Thanks for the reblog.
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You are welcome :)
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thank you for sharing and reminding us that they that wait on the Lord will renew thier strength,…
God Bless,
C.C.T.
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He does indeed renew our strength and delights to do so when we depend on Him.
What an amazing God!
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