For the space shuttle to dock with the space station, the spacecraft must maintain the proper pitch and yaw—attitude. Not only must the craft be oriented properly—pointed in the right direction—its attitude must be controlled.
The same is true with us. We need to maintain control and keep a good attitude in order to be connected with God. Anger, bitterness, and other negative emotions change our pitch and yaw. We can look at other people and circumstances—and God—in a way that skews our vision. And not being able to see correctly means we view God as something he’s not.
Often if we’re angry, we infer meanings from what people say or how they say something. We misread body language and facial expressions. We read into what they don’t say and reach wrong conclusions. We do the same thing with God.
With a right attitude we’ll read a passage of Scripture one way. But with a wrong attitude we can read the same verses negatively. I’ve done both—read a passage as both a dire warning and a promise—because of my personal experiences at the time. Our perspective is affected by what we perceive and by our past. Then, what we think affects what we do and how we react.
If we want to see God, we need pure hearts. If we want to be closer to God, we need to be sure we are pointed in the right direction, that we’re moving toward him, not away from him. And then adjust our point of view.
When bad things happen, we need to remind ourselves how good God is. Read a Psalm, listen to a sermon, read a book, listen to music—worship. Even if all we have is five minutes that may be enough.
To correct the pitch and yaw of the shuttle, the astronauts fire small maneuvering thrusters. A few seconds may be all it takes to regain a right attitude and control in order to reconnect with God.
Want to learn more? Visit http://praisechapelkingman.podblaze.com to hear a sermon by Senior Pastor Howard Pennington or any of our pastors or guest speakers.
