--- id: 20150601_higher_power title: BLOG - Higher Power category: Biblical Life Counsel predicted_narrative_arc: aviation-metaphor-to-spiritual-power sentiment: Encouraging emotions: - Instructive - Hopeful - Pastoral keypoints: - An aerodynamic stall is recognized by decaying airspeed and control "burble" - Recovery requires lowering the nose and/or adding power to regain flying speed - Dean compares life stalls — disappointment, loss, fatigue — to losing controllable "airspeed" - Looking to God for more ability is the "higher power" that flies you out of the stall - Closing charge: Keep Up the Mach summary: > Dean Rush explains aircraft stall recognition and recovery — decaying airspeed, control burble, then nose-down and added power — and applies the lesson to life: slowing too much leaves us unreliable in what God wants; seeking His higher power restores controllable forward motion through disappointment, loss, or fatigue. He closes with the aviation charge: Keep Up the Mach. tags: - blog - human-resources - aviation - stall-recovery - higher-power - spiritual-strength - fatigue - prayer - dean-rush - keep-up-the-mach sycophancy: 0 truth_score: 8 entropy: 3 sample: false consent: owner_approved agent: blog created: '2015-06-01' updated: '2026-09-09T00:00:00Z' vault_stage: 07_CODEX headwaters: BLOG prefix: BLOG enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: manual pipeline_filename: BLOG_2015-06-01_higher-power.md source_kind: blog_article proposed_topic: Wisdom lane: Wisdom voice: desk active_voice: desk voices: - desk routing_source: carbon corpus_topic: Wisdom content_status: active date: '2015-06-01' share_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/higher-power source_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/higher-power site_category: Human Resources archive_month: 2015-06 description: > Dean maps aircraft stall recovery — recognize, add power, regain airspeed — onto life's stalls, pointing readers to God's higher power to fly them out again. --- # Higher Power **Author:** Dean Rush **Original post:** [deanrush.net/blog/higher-power](https://deanrush.net/blog/higher-power) **Archive month:** June 2015 · **Site category:** Human Resources > Voice note: Everything under **Dean's article** is Dean's original prose (lightly cleaned of HTML/image artifacts only). Sections marked **Biblical foundations**, **Scholar sidebar**, **Takeaways**, and **First-time learner** are enrichment for Asker / first readers — not Dean speaking. --- ## Biblical foundations (preface) Dean teaches stall recovery from the cockpit, then names the spiritual parallel: when life slows into an uncontrollable "stall," the remedy is God's higher power. The enrichment below undergirds *his* aviation-to-faith move; it does not replace his pilot vocabulary. | Dean's claim | Scriptural undercarriage | | -------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Warning signs precede disaster if ignored | Watch and pray (Matthew 26:41); be sober-minded and watchful (1 Peter 5:8) | | Recovery requires decisive corrective action | Strengthen the weak hands (Isaiah 35:3–4); lift drooping hands (Hebrews 12:12–13) | | Human strength runs out; God's power does not | Power made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9–10); be strong in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10) | | Fatigue, loss, and disappointment can stall a life | Cast your burden on the Lord (Psalm 55:22); He gives power to the faint (Isaiah 40:29–31) | --- ## Dean's article ### Stall recognition and recovery ![Rocket-assisted takeoff image from Dean's original post](https://deanrush.net/Portals/0/images/article/rocket-assisted-takeoff-746276_640.jpg) **A stall is a very important element of flying an airplane**. You must be able to recognize the onset of a stall in order to properly recover and return to normal safe flight. In lay vernacular, a stall is initiated by slowing an airplane down to the lowest possible controllable airspeed and then continuing into an uncontrollable element. There are various ways of recovering from a stall but they all result in two actions. The first is to recognize the condition and then initiate actions to overcome the circumstance. Interestingly, there is always an indication of an impending stall in every airplane manufactured. Normally (not true in all cases) is simple fact that airspeed is quickly dissipating and then a burble on the controls warns of the impending problem. If not corrected immediately, there could be a horrible result. The most important element of the recovery is to regain sufficient flying airspeed to again control the aircraft. You do that by lowering the nose to increase the airspeed or adding enough power to increase airspeed. The higher power will normally fly you out of the problem by providing a higher and then a controllable airspeed due to the increased power setting. > **Scholar sidebar — Recognize, then add power** > Dean's sequence matches biblical wisdom about spiritual danger: notice the warning, then act. Proverbs warns that the simple ignore signals until calamity arrives (Proverbs 22:3; 27:12). Isaiah 40:29–31 answers the "airspeed" problem spiritually: the faint receive power; those who wait on the Lord renew strength. Dean's "higher power" is not a vague force — in his frame it is God supplying what drained human capacity cannot. ### Life stalls and God's higher power I have found life very similar to the airplane necessity of maintaining sufficient airspeed so that my life is controllable. If I slow down too much, I find my self unreliable in doing what God wants me to do. I slough off my duties and my appreciation for the wonderful gifts of life he has bestowed upon me. If, however, I look to Him for more ability His higher power somehow moves me forward. Like most of you, I have stalled a few times in my life, but it is wonderful when we recover and can see the safety of life through His higher power. We can stall when we are disappointed in a job, a relationship, the loss of a loved one, or simply through fatigue. In all cases I have found that if go to God for more power, His higher power gets me through the stall and back to life. Keep Up the Mach!! > **Scholar sidebar — Weakness is not the end of the flight** > Paul heard the Lord say, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Ephesians 6:10 charges believers to "be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might" — not in self-generated cruise speed. Dean's list of stall triggers (job disappointment, relationship pain, grief, fatigue) is pastoral realism; his remedy is consistent: go to God for more power. "Keep Up the Mach" is cockpit slang turned discipleship charge — stay in the power that keeps life controllable under God's hand. --- ## Takeaways 1. **Stalls have warnings.** Dissipating airspeed and control burble teach that disaster rarely arrives without signals. 2. **Recovery is active.** Lower the nose, add power — recognize, then initiate corrective action. 3. **Life can lose "airspeed."** Slowing spiritually makes us unreliable in what God wants and dull to His gifts. 4. **God's higher power restores forward motion.** Looking to Him for more ability is Dean's consistent recovery procedure. 5. **Keep Up the Mach.** The closing charge is to stay in the power that flies you out of the stall. --- ## First-time learner ### What is Dean saying in one sentence? When your life stalls like an airplane losing airspeed, go to God for higher power — He can fly you out and back to controllable living. ### Why the aviation lesson? Because Dean thinks as a pilot: emergencies have procedures. Stall recovery (recognize → add power → regain control) becomes a memorable picture of seeking God's strength in fatigue, grief, or disappointment. ### Key verses to read with this post - **Isaiah 40:29–31** — He gives power to the faint; wait on the Lord. - **2 Corinthians 12:9–10** — Power perfected in weakness. - **Ephesians 6:10** — Be strong in the Lord. - **Psalm 55:22** — Cast your burden on the Lord. - **Proverbs 22:3** — The prudent see danger and hide. ### A simple practice (Dean's challenge made concrete) When you notice "burble" this week — fatigue, sloughed duties, dulled gratitude — name the stall aloud, then pray once for God's higher power before you try to fix everything yourself. ### How this feeds Ask Dean This post is seed material for questions such as: *What does Dean mean by higher power? How does flying shape his counsel? What do I do when I feel stalled spiritually?* Answers should keep Dean's voice primary and use the scholar notes only as supporting biblical scaffolding.