“To [her] who knows to do good and does not do it, to [her] it is sin.” James 4:17

An Abraham Moment

My husband and I recently took a flight on our vacation. We were assigned seats D and E, which meant we had an aisle seat and a middle seat—the seat where you are squished in a small space between two other people.

Our agreement is that if the next person in our row is a woman, I will take the middle seat. If the next person is a man, my husband will take the seat.

We got settled in with all our stuff. Since my husband had the aisle seat, I knew that he could lean a tiny bit into the aisle, giving me a precious few extra centimeters for comfort.

Then the last person in our row showed up. Yay! A man with the window seat assignment. He immediately asked if we would give up the aisle seat to him, and take his window seat instead, because three of his kids were sitting in the seats directly across the aisle and he wanted to be able to supervise them.

Now, I will be the first person to applaud parental supervision of three kids on a long flight. And normally, I like a window seat—but I knew I would have to get out to use the restroom at least once. But under the circumstances, we moved over and resettled all our belongings.

A few minutes into the flight, my husband leaned over and whispered to me, “Let’s offer to trade seats with his wife and fourth child.” They were seated four rows ahead. I admit, I balked. I did not want to move again. I did not want to get resettled again. My husband took one look at my face and did not ask again. I got out my pillow and laid my head against the window to take a nap.

Of course, God began to impress His Word upon my mind. Do to others as you want them to do to you. Love does not seek its own. Give, and it shall be given to you. Love is kind. I tried to ignore it with excuses. I was tired. It wasn’t my fault the airlines separated this family. We’d already given up our assigned seats once for this family. I did not want to pack up my stuff and resettle again.

But I’ve walked that road before. It’s the road that moves me away from the Lord instead of toward Him. It’s the road of practicing disobedience. It’s sin.

I leaned over to my husband and whispered, “Go ahead and offer.” He did so immediately, and I was, in that moment, restored to a clean heart and right spirit.

The man thanked us profusely, and added, “If you really want to.” Then he reconsidered and said he would give his wife a break from their three little ones across the aisle, and let her stay where she was. We ended up having a companionable conversation with this young father throughout the flight.

That was my Abraham moment. Abraham had been asked to give up his only son, and he was willing, but in the end, God did not require it of him. With His Spirit prompting me to obedience, God allowed me to keep what I most desired.

“Father, thank You for Your Spirit Who prompts us to obey. Amen.”