Fly by the Seat of Your Pants

1 Samuel 17:45 David said to the Philistine “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

Dear Friend:

What does “fly by the seat of your pants really mean?”
It actually had to do with the movement of the seat of your pants, In early aviation days, there weren't too many instruments. The pilots literally had to "feel" the movement of the aircraft-- They did that by feeling the movement of their butt! Thus the definition: Decide a course of action as you go along, using your own initiative and perceptions rather than a pre-determined plan or mechanical aids.

David, while tending his father’s sheep, learned to kill lions and bear s to protect the sheep. He even said “the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” God built this initiative and perception in David to become a warrior. He no longer needed to trust in sword and spear to fight the enemy. It is so cool that he knew that it was “God ,“ who gave him the power to fight!

I started out thinking this was going to be a message of God warning us to stop “flying by the seat of our pants.” He is saying if you are “flying by the seat of your pants” as many of the previous warriors did and failed, you too will fail. That means the results will look like yelling, screaming, fighting with the goal to have a quick fix and the result is frustration, brokenness, anger and hurt relationships. To have success in our decisions of how to handle things decide today like David did to build your inner instinct on God’s word and examples. Then you can truly fly by the seat of your pants. Get it!

Let’s pray: Father in heaven thank you for your word and the example of your mighty warriors who had victory because of you. Help me to stay true to you and learn and live like David. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Flying by the seat of God’s word,
Elaine