5Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV
In the October 30 entry in This Day with the Master: 365 Daily Meditations, Dr. Dennis Kinlaw tells the story about when he was flying with a missionary pilot in a small airplane in Africa. The pilot told him that there are two instruments that are essential in every plane, no matter how big or how small: a compass and a horizon.
Knowing what a compass was, Dr. Kinlaw inquired about the horizon. The pilot pointed to a dial with a black line across it. The tips of that line were orange and larger than the rest of the line.
The pilot explained that when a plane is in heavy cloud cover, the pilot can see nothing but the clouds around him. He said, “This instrument tells me when I am up and when I am down. I need a reference outside of myself, so a compass indicates the lateral direction, and a horizon shows the vertical direction.” These two instruments keep the pilot’s direction constant on his flight plan.
I asked my longtime friend, Arv Metcalf, who is a retired pilot for UPS, how it is that someone who is upside down would not feel that something is wrong? Arv explained, “When a pilot is flying through a cloud or storm, there is no visual horizon to reference. If the plane is in a coordinated, slow roll or inverted, centrifugal force pushes the pilot into their seat, masking the change in gravity and making the seat feel like it’s ‘down.’ If the pilot doesn’t read the horizon instrument correctly or if the horizon instrument is broken, the pilot will falsely believe he is flying straight and level.”
God created us with a coordinated set of organs that help us maintain balance: the vestibular system, the eyes, and the muscles and joints.
The vestibular system is located in the inner ear (see diagram below).
The vestibular apparatus within your inner ear includes five vestibular organs:
- Three semicircular canals.
- Two otolith organs.
The three semicircular canals are tubes inside your inner ear that detect rotational head movements.
- Superior canal: Detects up-and-down head movements (like nodding “yes”).
- Horizontal canal: Detects left-to-right head movements (like shaking your head “no”).
- Posterior canal: Detects side-to-side movements (like tilting your head toward either shoulder).
The two otolith organs are chambers that detect linear movements (those related to gravity).
- Utricle: Detects horizontal motion (forward or back, like being in a moving car).
- Saccule: Detects vertical movement (up or down, like being in a moving elevator).
All five vestibular organs contain a fluid called endolymph and tiny hair cell sensory receptors. When your head moves, the endolymph shifts, causing the hair cells to shear or move. As a result, the hair cells send sensory information about your movement via the vestibular nerve to your brain.
The vestibular system does not work alone. It is designed for ground movement. Without seeingthe horizon, the brain cannot distinguish between gravity and other accelerations. Sensory receptors in the muscles and joints also send messages to the brain. Thus, balance is maintained as a coordinated effort of the vestibular system, the eyes, and the muscles and joints.
Just as there are tools on airplanes to orient a pilot to the true horizon, and multiple parts of the ear to help us maintain our physical balance, God provides spiritual balance to those who seek His guidance. When our lives feel like they are spinning faster than an airplane caught in a tailwind, we can turn to those things that remind us of God’s ultimate goodness and the loving care He longs to provide. He has given us His words in Holy Scripture, His presence in the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts, and evidence of His love in the form of His creation and the fellowship we experience with other followers of Christ. His voice resonates in our favorite music, in a beautiful painting, and in the laughter shared among friends. He has filled the world with beauty, truth, and goodness; let us look to Him, the true horizon, to help us keep our balance.
Psalm 119: 105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
John 16:13
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
Genesis 1:31
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Colossians 3:16
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/vestibular-system
Kinlaw, D. (2002). This Day with the Master. The Francis Asbury Society.
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made 