I’ll admit that I stole the theme for this episode from another source. I’m definitely not a plagiarizer so, I’ll give due credit here (as always) and it’s not totally a literary theft. What I mean is, I’m borrowing the topic I want to discuss but, I have the real life stories that perfectly illustrate how to combine practical wisdom with the supernatural to gain a miraculous result. In this episode, I will tell you how I learned a hard lesson which ultimately led to an amazing result. If you tend to lean too much on either your own efforts or on God’s miracles to make things happen, my real life examples will help you see how the two must balance each other out.

Predetermined Expectations: A Costly Novice Mistake

So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

Proverbs 2:2 (KJV)

My first real life example was a very disappointing and embarrassing situation that took place in 2019. During the year before, I had been having dreams of getting a new SUV by what appeared to be a miraculous provision. The SUV I had been driving up to that point was on its last leg and I was determined to use my faith to get a new one. Several of my dreams showed me getting the new vehicle and I did everything I had been learning to do by faith to get it. I did my research to decide on the best vehicle, I went to the dealers to see them in person and I frequently took steps to cause the dreams to become reality.

But, there was a obviously big problem which required my faith to make this vehicle purchase happen. Maybe you figured it out by now. Remember the part in my story where God would not allow me to have any job and I had to use up all my money? Yep, that’s the part. So, now you understand why taking steps to get a new SUV was purely an act of faith. Let me emphasize again that I had many dreams all about the vehicle I wanted.

So, how did it end up working out? A great question. I wish the story ended much better. I ended up getting the exact SUV that I wanted, after many months of going through the process of taking one step at a time all by faith. I can say for an absolute fact that nothing I did was impulsive! I even asked God right before the purchase, that if anything was not right about this, that He would do something to stop me from getting the vehicle.

Well, cutting straight to the punchline… I owned the SUV for about 9 months before it left me on a tow truck. The tow truck was sent by the bank after 2 months of not being able to make any payments. Without getting into all the details, you’re probably wondering how a story that started out so well ended up like this? I mean, if you were acting on faith for the first time in your life on such a huge matter, you would think this story should have ended very differently.

This is a good time to say again how disappointing this was to me. I had never in my life done anything as ridiculous (on the surface) as this. To the average person who knows nothing about God and the supernatural, this would have been the stupidest decision in the world.

I mean, how else do you think buying a brand new SUV is going to work out when you have no money coming in and most of what you had left was gone? Right. This is where the logical thinkers start saying what an idiotic idea this was. Yep. Well, let’s back up here a bit and see where God may have tried to bring a solution that I missed. Maybe He did have a plan so that I could have still had that vehicle today.

When we start looking at the details of what happened during the time I owned the SUV, we do find evidence that God had brought at least one part of the solution. Several times, there was a certain close family member who had asked me a few times about money. On more than one occasion, he even asked specifically about the SUV and financing it. So… what was my response?

In retrospect, my answer was rather narrow minded. I had fully expected a very specific way that God would make the rest of the money appear. I had heard stories about others who got things by faith and it seemed very logical that I was going to get some unexplainable miracle like they did. Money suddenly appearing in my bank account, a big anonymous donation sent to me, the total vehicle payment (debt) being miraculously wiped out… Things like that.

But, to think that a significant part of the money would come from an immediate family member… NOPE! That was not on my list of expected possibilities! Well, as I said at the top, that leap of faith ended very badly and left me very confused. Looking back, a story like that is a great illustration of a mistake that a novice would make. Truth be told, I was very new to stepping out on faith in financial ways and I had much to learn. But, let’s now switch to a story that worked out much, much better.

Maturity + Wisdom = A Miraculous Outcome

But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

Job 28:12 (KJV)

My second real life story had a much better outcome, having learned the hard lesson the first time. This story is not about a vehicle but, about regaining a professional qualification that I walked away from years ago in order to find God’s plan for my life. Without getting into all the details, I told in a recent episode how in my earlier years, I had become a pilot with 5 licenses (private, instrument, commercial, multi-engine and instructor). I had always wanted to fly professionally (or in the military) but, God had reasons to put all that on the slow path. Ultimately, as I say, I had to walk away from it all for 14 years for very good reasons.

Then came the dreams where God was showing me I would return to flying again as a pilot. Those dreams took place over a period of several years until finally one day, a very similar pattern repeated regarding the source of the funding. It was again, a very close family member, who asked me if I wanted to go back to flying again and regain my instructor rating. This time, my attitude was not so narrow minded as in my SUV story. This time, my answer was an immediate and enthusiastic “YES!”

Soon afterwards, I started receiving the money but then came the hard work of regaining all the academic knowledge and practical skills to become proficient again. Because I had not flown in 14 years, this was no small task. Fortunately, in recent years, I had done a little studying of various aviation subjects which, cumulatively proved to be very helpful. But still, getting back up to speed again was going to require a ton of work.

At first, my progress was slow and it was harder to regain my past level of proficiency than I had hoped. Actually, it became quite demoralizing how much skill I had lost in those 14 years. It used to be that flying was second nature to me, especially as an instructor where I had taught 25 students to fly and accumulated 500 hours as a CFI. I want to emphasize that, although I wanted to return to flying, the reality of doing so was like climbing up (again) a very steep mountain.

I did the best I could for a few weeks with the new money until circumstances forced me to pause my efforts. A couple months later, I had a dream that I would be returning to flight training to continue what I had started but this time, I would experience something of a miracle in regaining my former skill level. Much to my relief, when I did pick up my training again, it was very much as the dream showed. In some miraculous way, my piloting skills had come back and my academic knowledge was coming together again quickly as well. In fact, during most of my lessons, my instructor said how surprisingly happy he was with my progress.

At the time I’m writing this, I completed my flight review (14 CFR 61.56) and almost finished with the instrument proficiency check (14 CFR 61.57). Once I finish, the next step will be training in the aircraft I’ll eventually be buying for my upcoming company, most likely a Pilatus PC-12 (but, that’s a whole other story yet to happen).

Ok, let’s hold at this point here because the summary of the lessons learned is the most important takeaway for most readers.

Instrument Proficiency Check Complete April 30, 2025 (first time in 14 years, went extremely well, exactly as the dream showed)

Practical Solutions: Consider Your Immediate Surroundings

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

James 2:17 (KJV)

In my first story, it appeared that part of God’s answer was right in front of me. Sadly, I missed it because of a narrow minded, predetermined attitude of how my financial miracle would happen. Maybe you know the story of Naaman and Elisha in 2 Kings 5. You know, the Syrian captain with leprosy that came to the prophet to get healed.

Naaman came to Elisha with basically the same attitude I had with my SUV. He had a very exact expectation of how Elisha would heal him but, that is not how it played out. Naaman was told to do something that offended him and it became a test to see if he would humble himself and obey the prophet. Fortunately for him, he did exactly as he was told and he got healed. (Oh, if only I had recognized that lesson a few years earlier…)

Thankfully, in my second story, I did learn from my first mistake and I accepted the money (again from immediate family members). This time, the outcome was infinitely more positive. My point in this story is that, when you are in need of a miracle of provision, don’t overlook the answers that might be right in front of you.

Don’t be too narrow minded or proud to accept help from those you least expect God to use. Remember also that you may need to put in some old fashioned hard work and study to gain (or regain) professional skills needed according to your God-given calling. Prayer by itself is not going to make you a doctor, lawyer, teacher, pilot or anything else.

God has this strange way of requiring us to honor the balance between both the natural and supernatural realms in order to reach our destination. There is wisdom in that, if you think about it. Too much spirituality can lead to pride, just as with too much focus on natural abilities. Each of these must be in balance. Remember my new website name? Remember how I explained the divine wisdom of what it means?

Ok, let’s quit there because I believe you got what you need from my two stories. Practical wisdom and humility can work together to produce miraculous outcomes. Maybe we’ll come back to this idea again in a future episode!

CREDITS for this episode come from my spiritual father / mentor; David E. Taylor. Had it not been for his teaching, most of what you see on my website would not exist, including the soon coming space energy invention that is about to receive the necessary funding!

To be continued…

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