Although I’ve flown many times, I still face the fear factor when it comes to flying. Fear doesn’t keep me grounded because I know about the “uns” of life — the “uns” that the airlines tell you about and the “uns” that God wants you to know.

Once passengers find their assigned seats before a flight, a stewardess begins making announcements. During this brief information session, passengers are told what to do in case of emergency.

In the unlikely event the cabin loses air pressure, an oxygen mask will drop down from the compartment above your head. The stewardess holds a mask and shows how the elastic band fits around your head and the mask covers your nose and mouth.

Passengers are instructed to keep their seatbelts fastened while they’re seated in case of unexpected turbulence. Whether the flight will travel over land or sea, you learn your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device.

Get the picture? The airlines want passengers to know what to do should the unlikely and unexpected happen. Often, the problems we encounter in life are considered unlikely because they are unexpected, unwanted and usually come unannounced.

With each new day, we face “uns” because life is unpredictable. Ever notice the word “if” is in the center of the word, life? The future is uncertain and unknown. From time to time, every one of us will encounter turbulence. Winds of adversity can make life a bumpy journey.

We do not know from day to day when unforeseen circumstances may find us, or a family member, battling an illness or undergoing surgery. Some accidents are unavoidable. A financial crisis may catch us unaware. Unfaithfulness unravels family ties.

During those times, remember we serve a God whose love and power are unlimited. He is unchanging. He’s the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). When things seem uncontrollable to us, remember that God is in control.

The Bible says, “Lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5b NKJ).

I do not understand aerodynamics and how huge jet planes with lots of people get off the ground and soar into the air, traveling miles above the earth.

Likewise, I do not understand when bad things happen to good people. But when the unthinkable occurs, I do know that the peace God gives passes all my understanding.

When a passenger boards an airplane, they don’t sit in the cockpit. They trust that the pilot’s skill and the plane’s radar will get them to their destination.

Let God be your pilot, not just co-pilot.

He knows all and sees all from His eternal vantage point. Fear causes us to carry excess baggage around with us that we weren’t meant to carry.

Let go and let God unburden you of whatever weighs you down.

We don’t know what may happen today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, or during our lifetimes.

But we can live unafraid because we know the One who holds the future.

We can trust Him to be with us through the journey of life and, in His time, carry us to our eternal destination in heaven.

– Jan White is an award-winning columnist. She can be reached at jwhite@andycable.com.