Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Divine Seat Assignment


Larry and I flew home from a conference in Orlando this past Saturday.  It was a long enough flight that if a passenger wanted to take in a movie they could.  Somehow we ended up across the aisle from each other, him in the middle and me by the window.  The couple to my left had their screens turned on and their big headphones plugged in even before we had taxied down the runway.  Only when the attendant handed the woman beside me her complimentary orange juice did I have a chance to ask where she was from.  "Australia," she responded and immediately put her headset back into place. 

I'm not one who feels like I have to engage every stranger I meet into a meaningful conversation, including those I might be sitting by while traveling cross country.  But I couldn't help but think of some months earlier when Larry and I were returning from a visit to Los Angeles where we had traveled to meet our new baby granddaughter.  The plane was much like this one, but that time we were sitting together, Larry by the window and me in the middle.  The man next to me on the aisle seemed approachable, so I'd asked him where he was from and where he was going.  He too was from Australia but lived in the States and was returning from a trip after a visit with his aging parents. 

I need to back up.  The day before we had visited a very large, used bookstore in downtown Los Angeles, a place that Autumn and Jimmie had wanted to check out since moving to California three years earlier.  I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to pick up something to read for the long flight back to New York.  I went up to the second level and found a small section of Christian books off in a corner.  I found something by a favorite author of mine in good condition for six dollars and packed it in my carry-on later that night.

The used bookstore in downtown Los Angeles

It was about an hour into the flight and an hour into my book when I read the following:  God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time.  God is setting you up....I don't believe in coincidence, not if you are living a Spirit-led life.  I believe in a sovereign God who is ordering your footsteps, preparing good works in advance, and making all things work together for good.   Then a few paragraphs later came the clincher.  Can I make a simple observation?  Notice who's next to you. What you think is a seat assignment might be a divine assignment.  The Person two inches away may change your destiny, or you might change theirs!  ("Chase The Lion" by Mark Batterson p. 41)

"Uh, Lord, are you trying to tell me that this is a divine appointment with this stranger sitting beside me?"  He'd been watching a movie for the last hour, and except for knowing what little bit he'd told me, that was it.  I didn't even know his name.  Besides, you don't try to carry on a conversation on a plane with someone wearing headphones staring at a screen.  But I also sensed that God was about to do something.  "OK Lord, if this is your plan, I'm in.  But you're going to have to get this thing started.  It's up to you."   

A few minutes later Larry suddenly whispered, "I need to get out. I have to use the restroom."  He'd been accepting coffee from the flight attendants every time they walked by.  This was the second time I was having to apologize and ask the nice, patient man in the aisle seat if he would mind letting my husband out. He smiled, a good sign, and Larry disappeared towards the back of the plane.

The earphones were now off and the screen was dark.  I felt a nudge.  It was time.  God promises to give us what we need when we need it.  In this case,  I needed an opener and He gave it to me, a simple inquiry about how hard had it been to leave his parents living so far away.  From that one question,  the conversation would continue for the next two and a half hours, the remainder of that flight.  In between the words spoken and stories shared, we were permitted to see into the heart of a man who was looking for answers to some difficult questions and seeking direction for the next season of his life. I opened the book and showed him what I had read, knowing by his expression that he too recognized that this had been a divine appointment.         

Before we landed I felt one last nudge.  I asked John (for that is his name) if he would like to have the book as a reminder that God had set up the seating assignments that day.  But mostly, that he would know that God had a plan for him in the next season of his life.  I wasn't even supposed to be on this plane," he had told us, "and as far as I know, I got the last seat."  It just happened to be by us.  He accepted my gift gratefully.  Our last moments were in the terminal in Detroit praying together. He would be boarding for Iowa shortly and we for New York.  That was the last time we saw him. 

There's a bit more to this story.  I emailed the author and shared the story of how God had used his words to bring a few strangers together on that flight out of Los Angeles.  And then I ended with this:  "I know this whole episode encouraged John at a crucial time in his life, but it also did something in me.  We've pastored and done missionary work for over 40 years.  But I needed something fresh, and those moments on that plane revived my spirit in a way that I can not explain.  Thank you."  A few days later, I received a reply, and this is what he wrote.  A big smile on my face right now. And God does it again! Thanks SO MUCH for sharing this.  Love it when the Lord sets up these divine appointments--never gets old does it?   Mark 

No, it never does.  


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