Be a Believer is to Be An Achiever

From: Chee Hung Ngoh  ngohch@netscape.net
Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 09:16:38 0800

When you become a believer in yourself you are on the road that leads to where you want to go. Belief in depth is not easy, but it is vital. Believe comes easy when it involves common place. We push a switch, believing the light will turn on. We make a restaurant reservation, believing our table will be waiting. We mailed a letter,
believing the mailman will deliver it on time.

It's the important things with which we seem to have trouble. The dictionary tells us that the word believe means "To have faith or confidence; usually within or on; as, to believe in a person."

So simply accepting something is not the same dynamic thing as believing it. All of the early American colonist appreciated liberty. But it was those who believed in it who fought for it.

Yes, truly believing in something makes all the difference. As the philosopher F.W. Robert wrote: "To believe is to be happy; to doubt is to be wretched. To believe is to be strong. Doubt cramps energy. Belief is power. Only so far as a man believes strongly, mightily, can he act cheerfully, or do anything that is worth the doing."

And most dynamic is the promise of Jesus: "All things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23). Believing is the power of positive living. It gets things done. It reserves failure into success. Believers are achievers.

Perhaps the word "believer" should be defined. Believer in what? A would be achiever must believe in himself or herself, have confidence in one's ability and goals. The achiever must believe in other people, for without helping hands no ladder can be climbed. And all believe should be under girded by a solid trust in the help of God.

You may remember what happened during the hijacking of TWA 874 over the Mediterranean in June 1985. A veteran pilot John Testrake, who had been flying over 30 years. A strong believer in God, Captain Testrake faced his most critical moment during the hijacking at a refueling stop in Beirut, Lebanon. The hijackers, violent enough to have killed a passenger, Robert Stethem, were in frenzy as they argued with the control tower about where to refuel.

The tower wanted the plane in refueling area; the terrorist feared an ambush there and demanded it be done out on the runway. Finally, the hijackers reluctantly to the refueling area and Captain Testrake guided the plane with its 153 passengers and crew toward the confined area.

"With the muzzle of a pistol quivering at the back of my neck and a grenade jammed into my face, the tension mounted," he reported. "These men were Shiites, a radical segment of Muslim religion, who believed that dying for their beliefs rewarded them with a prime place in paradise. They were close to hysteria. One unexpected move in the fueling area could trigger a bloodbath.

"I remembered how I felt as we taxied in. I had a strong feeling that we'd all be dead, and my hand gripped the throttle. The time had come when I must not succumb to fear. I had to come to grips with the situation, and the only way I could do that was to reach out to faith. Long before, I had given myself to Him. if I truly believed in Him, then I must believe in Him completely. If Jesus wishes me alive, I said to myself, the hijacker will not squeeze the trigger or drop the grenade.

"My hand on the throttle remained steady. Relaxed, I edged the ship into the fueling area and cut the engines." Captain Testrake says there was nothing new about the faith that kept him steady under such terrifying circumstances. It was a part of him, just as knowing how to fly a plane was a part of him, and it a belief that had grown stronger over the years.

After seventeen days, during which Captain Testrake's belief in God's presence never wavered, the terrorist released the passengers and the ordeal was over. What would happened if the Captain was not strong believer? Would he have lost his composure at that critical moment, causing the destruction of his plane and passengers? I do not like to think what might have happened.

Whether you're caught in an airliner hijacking or something as common as a crisis in your work, your steady belief in God will make all the difference between preservation and failure.

Source : Internet Mailing