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.
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