Noah’s Ark, and Why “God Isn’t Your Co-Pilot”
By Michael Kelley
Several years ago, there was a popular slogan that, on the surface, sounded very Christian, and made its way onto bumper stickers and t-shirts. The saying went like this: “God is my co-pilot.”
The phrase originated from a 1943 memoir written by Robert Scott, who was a World War II fighter pilot. He titled his book God is My Co-Pilot” as a means of expressing his faith and reliance on God during his missions. The book was even made into a movie in 1945. Scott intended the phrase to mean that the reason he was able to make it through combat was because of the protection of the Lord. God was with him, and he wanted a simple phrase to represent God’s presence.
In this, he was absolutely right. And if the t-shirts and bumper stickers that came after meant the same thing, they were right also. If you are a Christian, God is indeed with you; even more so, He is “for” you:
What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? (Rom. 8:31-32).
But while the sentiment behind the phrase might be right, “God is my co-pilot” does have one major flaw -
If God if your co-pilot, then you are the pilot. That is, you are the one doing the actual steering. You are the one making decisions. You are the one in control. The role of the copilot is, by definition, to assist the captain in operating an aircraft and maintaining navigation. And that’s not right.
Consider the words of the prophet Jeremiah:
“I know, Lord, that a person’s way of life is not his own; no one who walks determines his own steps” (Jer. 10:23).
Or Daniel:
“May the name of God be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to him. He changes the times and seasons; he removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals the deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him” (Dan. 2:20-22).
God is no one’s copilot. Whether a king or a pauper, the Lord bows to no one. Which brings us to Noah. Noah, who “found favor in the sight of the Lord” (Gen. 6:8). These were desperate times, days in which “the Lord saw that man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time.” In fact, so evil were these days that “the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart” (Gen. 6:5-6). And so this God, who only a few chapters earlier in the Book of Genesis gazed on His perfect creation and declared over and over again, “It is good,” chose to wipe the earth clean of everything that walked, crawled, or flew around it.
God shared His intentions with Noah, but He also gave instructions. We find the detailed commands of building the ark, a vessel that would save a remnant of humanity and the rest of God’s creation to repopulate the earth. In those instructions, we find what kind of wood to use, how to cover it, how long and wide and high it must be, how many decks it would have, and even how close to the sides of the craft should be to the roof.
We find instructions about almost everything… except a rudder. Or a sail. No instructions as to how to steer the ship.
Perhaps that’s intentional because this craft was not meant to be steered at all; the ark was not designed to be navigated. The fate of the company was left in the hands of God by faith.
Noah was not the captain of his own ship leaving God to the role of copilot. The same thing is true today.
If, today, you are grasping tightly to the rudder of your own life, let it go. You are fighting a losing battle. Surrender yourself, by faith, to God’s direction and control. And know that when you do, God is not only with you, but for you. He will accomplish His good work in and through you.
Michael Kelley is a husband, father of three, author, and speaker from Nashville, TN. His latest book is a year-long family devotional guide called The Whole Story for the Whole Family. Find his personal blog at michaelkelley.co.