I sat in my seat then no more than 3 minutes later an older man took the seat beside me. Just trying to be friendly I smiled and said “Hi.” Little did I know, that little welcome would turn into a 1 hour, 45 minute conversation with him sharing stories and telling me all about his family. He told me everything about his life, from his past and regrets from different things to simply growing up and some family history thrown in there. I didn’t mind chatting it up a bit, but I soon felt the exhaustion weighing my entire body down and the desire to lay my tired head on my big, fluffy pillow (that was SCREAMING my name) only becoming stronger.
But as the thoughts, or rather complaints and whining, of “Oh.my.gosh. I’m SO tired, I just want to sleep a little…just a little. I only got 2 hours of sleep last night..only 2 mere hours and I need sleep before I get to Cambodia,” I heard a little voice. This little voice reminded me of who I am and what my life is supposed to look like. I’m no longer living for myself but for Christ, and I am to be like Christ to everyone I see. This truth made me “ugh…” a little because I KNOW Jesus wouldn’t have said, “I’m sorry old man, I’d really love to hear all about your life but I’m kinda tired right now. Catch you on the flip side after I get a few more hours of sleep and feel more like listening to you.” Absolutely not! That’s the silliest thing.
No, Jesus loves his people. He wants to sit and listen to all our stories even when we ramble about random things and He’s engaged while listening! And Jesus sacrificed everything..all the time. And if we are to be like Him then we are to sacrifice as well.
This word kept coming to mind constantly while I sat and listened to this man. Sacrifice. Laying my own desires down and putting others first. This man only wanted someone to listen, so that’s what I did. He wanted company, so I gave him company. I saw behind his glasses and through his green eyes to see loneliness. Sacrifice doesn’t mean comfort. It doesn’t mean it’s easy to do. Oh no, I sat there for quite a while feeling the heaviness of exhaustion. It was a struggle to try to pay attention but sucked it up and ended up talking to this man for most of the flight.
I wasn’t as attentive as I know Jesus would’ve been and as I should’ve been, but that time on the flight was a blessing to this man, and I’m thankful for that. He mentioned several times how much he appreciated me simply listening to him because it made the flight easier and I was good company. That’s when I knew it was worth it. It’s not about me at all. It took a while..like the whole flight to get my eyes off myself, but when Jesus revealed to me how much a blessing it was to him, I loved that He kept me awake and taught me this lesson. I’ll take sleep deprivation and an elderly man with a smile on his face over a couple hours to myself any day.
It really wasn’t much, only a couple hours of sleep that was given up, but it meant the world to him. Sacrifice…how sweet a lesson it is.
