The Time God Told Me to Not Board an Airplane

It’s fun being saved, but sometimes God will put you in funny situations because you are saved. For example, I was in Denver, Colorado, once waiting for a plane after preaching in Montana. After that, I flew to Salt Lake City, and from Salt Lake, I flew to Denver. The next stop was Dallas and then home to New Orleans. I hadn’t been home in a while, and I couldn’t wait to get there. I was just ready.

As I stood in the Denver airport waiting to start boarding, I started praising God. I was standing there, and I said to myself, Boy, it’s fun being saved. Father, I just thank You. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. I hear Your Word. I read Your Word. I flow in Your anointing.

Just then the Lord said, "Jesse, I don’t want you to get on that airplane.

"I said, “What?”

"There will be trouble on this plane," God said. "Don’t get on it."

“Trouble?” I asked."

Don’t get on the plane," He said again. "Take the next flight."

“Huh,” I said. “But-but, Lord, I-I’d just kind of like to go home, you know.”

"Don’t get on the plane," He said, just as simply as that.

So I went over to the lady at the check-in counter and asked, “When is the next flight to Dallas?”

“Nine hours from now,” she said.

When I heard her say that, I told God I didn’t want to stay in the airport for nine hours.

God said, "You can preach for nine hours. There are a lot of sinners here. You can let your light shine. Don’t get on this plane. There’s damage to come."

“Man, God,” I said, “can’t You just ‘heal’ it? At least until I get off the plane. You know, just fix it, huh?”

"Don’t!" He said. "I’m telling you. Don’t get on that plane."

After I heard that, I had to adjust myself to staying in the airport, and I was about halfway ready when God spoke to me again.

God said, "Now, I want you to go tell that ticket agent there are problems on this plane. Tell them not to load this plane and take off."

“God,” I said, “they’re not going to listen!

They’re going to think I’m a fruitcake if I go up there and tell them that!”

I could see myself, saying, Excuse me, but God told me for you all not to load this plane. You know, that sounds kind of crazy. But when you know the voice  of God, you’ve got to do what He says. I still fought it for a few minutes before I did anything.

It was getting close to the departure time, so I knew I had to do something. I decided to walk back up to the desk and tell the lady I would take the  next flight. As I got up close to the desk, I saw a guy smoking a big cigar that he’d been chewing on. It was kind of gross the way he did it. This man was sitting close to the desk, so he could hear my conversation.

I walked up really close to where he was sitting and said, “Ma’am, ah, I’m going to take the next flight out of here. Ah, I want to leave, but the Lord told me there’s going to be some damage to this plane. So you might want to get another one. Don’t fly this plane.” She looked at me and said, “Who told you?

“The Lord,” I said. “The Lord who?”

“The Lord, God—Jesus,” I said.

And she went, “Oh. Heh, heh, heh.” She didn’t believe what I was telling her.

“Lady, listen to what I’m saying,” I said. “If this plane takes off, we’ve got problems. I’m a man of the Lord. I know you think I’m a fruitcake. I know it sounds nuts, but don’t fly this plane.”

“Well,” she said, “we’re about ready to board.” She picked up the loudspeaker and called out the boarding. People started getting up to get on the plane, and the man with the cigar came over and went, “Whooof!”I felt so stupid.

God said, "You told them. That’s all I asked you to do.

"Yeah, I told them, but they were looking at me like I was crazy. Some of the people had heard me and began to stare at me as they walked past. And that just made me mad. They loaded the plane, and the devil said, "Nine hours, my man. Nine hours. I’m going to drive you nuts for nine hours.

"The lady asked me, “Mister, are you getting on this plane?”

“Don’t let that plane leave this gate,” I told her. “I’m telling you, God said it. I want to go home more than anybody! I don’t want to stay here nine hours. There’s something wrong with this plane.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the plane, sir,” she said. “Are you going to get on the plane, or are you going to stay here? Because if you stay, we’re going to put you on standby. You may not make that flight nine hours from now either.”

“No,” I said, “I’m not getting on that plane.” “Fine,” she said and closed the gate.

Boom!

I was standing there, feeling like an idiot. I was outside the gate, and the devil started in on me: Bozo brain. Fool. You idiot.

I joined in with him: Boy, you’re right. Huh, yeah.

You’re an idiot, man.

I sat there and watched as they pushed that plane to the runway. They fired up the engines— zzzzzZZZZZZ. I watched it, bless God. And they  got all ready to taxi down the runway. Sure enough, the engines were running—you could hear them go, srrrrrrRRRRRRRR.

The pilot throttled it a little bit to start taxing like he was supposed to, and he went maybe twenty-five feet before the back end of the plane just blew up.

The engine on the back of the plane just blew out black smoke. Something just went, booo-dooom!“Oh-hooo! Ahhhhh, yeah!” I shouted. I couldn’t help it. I said, “Ha, ha, ha, look there. It’s not working!”

Smoke went all over the place, man, and people came flying down that emergency chute so fast. They were out of there! I was sitting there going, “Ha, ha, ha.” I was just enjoying myself. The plane almost blew up, and I was celebrating.

Finally, they got all those people off the plane and headed back to the terminal. The people started coming back inside, and when that old boy with the cigar walked past, I just looked at him and smiled.

Within two hours, they had another plane ready to fly to Dallas. And just as they started boarding, that old guy with the cigar walked up and said, “Hey, Rev, is this one okay?”

“Yes, sir,” I said. “It’s okay.” “What seat you got?” he asked. “I’ve got 10a.”He looked at the lady behind the desk and said, “I want 10b.”I had to smell that old cigar all the way to Dallas and on to New Orleans, but it was all right because  the Lord was with us.

You know, God will honor you. He will honor you when you trust in Him.

In fact, God honors you at the same time the devil makes you think you’re the biggest idiot in town.

I’m telling you, it’s fun being saved! You know why it’s fun being saved? Because he turns crazy situations like this one into something you can laugh about! And also because everywhere you go, God protects you.

God protects you when you go in and when you go out (Ps. 121:8).

He’s given His angels charge over you, and they will keep you safe in all your ways (Psalm 91:11). He’s not worried about your safety, so why should you be? The Bible says a thousand may fall at your side, but it won’t come near you. (Psalm 91:7.)So the next time you get scared or think you’re in trouble, just start praying those protection Scriptures over yourself. God turns situations around!