When
airplane pilots are training, they spend many hours in flight simulators. These
simulators give the students a chance to experience the challenges and dangers
of flying an aircraft—but without the risk. The pilots don’t have to leave the
ground, and if they crash in the simulation, they can calmly walk away.
Simulators
are tremendous teaching tools—helpful in preparing the aspiring pilot to take
command of an actual aircraft. The devices, however, have a shortcoming. They
create an artificial experience in which the full-blown pressures of handling a
real cockpit cannot be fully replicated.
Real life
is like that, isn’t it? It cannot be simulated. There is no safe, risk-free
environment in which we can experience life’s ups and downs unharmed. The risks
and dangers of living in a broken world are inescapable. That’s why the words
of Jesus are so reassuring. He said, “These things I have spoken to you, that
in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of
good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Although we can’t avoid the dangers of life in a fallen world, we can have peace through a relationship with Jesus. He has secured our ultimate victory.
