.....feelings

You will not surely die,' the serpent said to the woman. 'For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' ­Genesis 3:4-5

On July 31, 1964, Country music star Jim Reeves and his piano player Dean Manuel took off from Batesville, Arkansas. Reeves was piloting his Beechcraft Bonanza and his destination was Nashville, Tennessee. Reeves was qualified only to fly during clear weather, but a storm quickly rose and dark skies and rain buffeted the small airplane. Then about 5 p.m., the plane disappeared from airport radar, just ten miles from Nashville.

Two days later, the wreckage and Reeves and Manual's remains were found in a heavily wooded area. The official report said that pilot error was the cause of the accident. Reeves had probably experienced vertigo during the storm. Vertigo is the disorienting sensation caused by an imbalance to the inner ear caused by the person leaning in one direction.

While in the dark clouds and the buffeting of the storm, Reeves could not discern what was up or what was down. His inner ear probably gave him the sensation that he was in a turn and he overcompensated by turning the aircraft in the opposite direction. If Reeves had been trained to fly on instruments, he would have been able to overcome this false feeling of orientation.

God has given us an instrument to live by - HIS WORD. We are not to trust in our own feelings or to make decisions "by the seat of our pants." Today in prayer, thank God for the Bible, that it can be trusted and it can preserve us from all types of danger.

"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." ­Psalm 119:105

- tom norvelle