“With deep love I will take you back.”
-Isaiah 54:7
One afternoon on a flight to Sacramento, a pretty laid-back guy sat down next to me. He was knocking back mini bottles of Jack Daniels and it was apparent this guy was a frequent flyer because the flight attendants obviously knew and loved him.
Anyway, the man (I never asked his name) sitting next to me was a project manager on various projects in the oil business. He did most of the talking, and I did most of the listening, and that was okay with me. The man didn’t know anything about me, but he told me his life story, the many ex-wives he has, which one liked sex the most (awkward), which one loved him the most, and how he felt about his life in general. He started talking to me about an hour into the flight and we had four hours to go, so there was a lot of life to cover in that time span.
In the last hour of the flight, he started talking to me about growing up in church (again, he did not know I was a woman of faith) and how his grandma used to take him to her church all the time. He said he started out in life believing in God, was saved, and wanted to be a good person for the Lord, but he walked away from his faith because God made him mad.
This man was deeply hurt, I could feel it, and I remember the feeling I had sitting next to him, complete sadness. I asked God to tell me why this man was so hurt and I heard, someone this man really loved, died. I took a deep breath, looked at the man and said, “God didn’t save someone you loved, did he?” and with a sad look he responded, “No, he didn’t.” I then asked, “And you feel like he should have?” and he said, “Yes, I do.”
I told him how sorry I was that he had lost someone so valuable to him and that I was also sorry God did not choose to save his loved one. We fastened our seatbelts; handed our cups, napkins, or empty bottles to the flight attendants; and prepared for our long-awaited landing at SAC airport. As we were standing up to leave, the man said, “I don’t know why I told you all of that. I’ve told you more than I’ve ever told anybody.” I paused and said, “You and I were supposed to meet for a reason, God loves you and is waiting for you to come back to Him.” Then, we both walked off and went our separate ways. I think of this man often. I hope he knows, that with deep love, God will take him back.