I was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, some years ago waiting to catch a plane. As I sat there, I saw a woman coming over to board a commuter flight.

In Pittsburgh you have to check in before you board the airplane. They don't care if you've got a boarding pass or not; it doesn't make any difference - you've got to check in.

There are at least twenty-five commuter planes going out of there all the time.

Well, this woman got into line, and I noticed her carry-on items. Now, why is it that women have to carry thirty-nine bags on their body when they get onto a plane? Have you ever noticed that? They've got one strapped across their shoulder, one hung from the neck, two on the arm and so on. They walk all slanted because of these bags hanging off them.

Well, this woman came walking up all slanted like that and got into line. She didn't go to the desk because she had a boarding pass, which should have meant she could walk directly onto the plane. I mean, that's why it's called a "boarding pass," right? Airlines don't understand that sometimes. I guess they don't always see the word boarding.

Well, this woman came walking up with all of her bags, and I could tell she was tired. She walked up to the man and handed him her boarding pass so she could get on the plane. The man took one look at her and said, "Excuse me, ma'am. Ah, have you checked in at the gate?"

Now, the gate was only about a stone's throw away, because this was a commuter flight. It was only a little bitty flight.

"Well, no," she told him, "but I have my seating assignment." The seating assignment was listed on the boarding pass.

"Well, I'm sorry," he said. "You'll have to check in at the gate."

By this time there were a bunch of people in line behind her. She had been standing there for a while before he came over and asked her that question.

"You mean to tell me I have to go over there and check in?" she said, pointing to the desk. "I have a boarding pass," she continued. "You people sent me a boarding pass, which means I can board the plane. I already have my seat selected. Here's the seat number," she said, holding the boarding pass up to the man.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, "but everybody's got boarding passes. You've got to check in first at the gate."

This did not make that lady happy. She said, "Well, I am not going to! I've carried these bags all over this airport, and I'm not going over to that gate."

"Well, I'm sorry ma'am, but you can't get on the plane."

"What do you mean I can't get on the plane?" she snapped.

"Well, you've got to check in at the gate first." He said, "In fact, you're ten minutes late now, and we've given up your seat."

"No, you haven't!" she said. She was getting fired up now, boy.

"Oh, yes, ma'am, we have," he said.

And, man, I saw it. I saw the devil take that woman. And I'll be honest, I was half mad at the man myself. I said to myself, Well, at least I'm not sinning. I'll just watch her sin awhile. Bless God, I was mad at him too!

At about that time she took one of those bags off her back. She was getting serious. Then she started taking the other bags off, and she said, "I'm not carrying these bags anymore." And she dropped them right in front of the exit.

He said, "Now, ma'am, you've got to move your bags."

"I don't have to move blubbbblldootttdodotodot!" she shouted.

There was no interpreter present, but everybody understood what the woman said. Man, I saw her get hot. She was a very elegant lady, about forty-five. She had really nice jewelry, nice clothes and those were nice bags she was dragging. I know it was tough.

"Well, ma'am," he said, "you're just going to have to get in another line."

"I'm not getting out of line; I'm going to get in your face!" she said.

Standing next to me was a guy who had been watching the whole thing as well. When she said that, we both backed up against the wall. I'll never forget that. If you ever go to Pittsburgh and you go to gate 24, you'll know what I'm talking about. Our backs were up against that wall.
As soon as she said she was going to get in that man's face, she reared back and hit that guy. Wham! She just socked him in the eye.

The man next to me said, "Did you see that?"

I muttered, "Uh-huh."

Then she turned around and cussed everybody out. Man, she cussed out everybody in the line. And believe me, everybody backed away then. When she was done with the people in line, she turned back to the man at the desk and cried, "You go get that pass now! I'm getting on that blankety-blank plane!"

She never did get that pass. Just then two uniformed policemen came up to get her. And just as they were coming, someone from the line yelled, "Hey, boys, you better have some shields! This woman will scratch your eyes out."

She was mad.

While all this was going on, I was up against the wall, saying to myself, Hit him on the other side. There isn't any use lying to you. I was thinking that. That's the truth.

They dragged that woman off to jail. I mean, they literally dragged her out of there. Her bags were still on the floor where she left them. After she left, the man started fixing himself up, but he had a puffy eye where she'd busted him. She hit him good.

By the time we were supposed to board the plane, not one of us made a move. We were all in shock after what we had just witnessed. But after I got on the plane, I heard the Lord say to me, You could have at least prayed.

He was right. What I should have done was say, "I rebuke this devil in Jesus' name." But I didn't want a high heel stuck in my head. But that's what I should've done. I should've rebuked the devil for influencing the woman to hit that guy.

Did you know that you have the power to do that? You have spiritual authority over circumstances. So you don't have to be a spectator like I was when something terrible is happening - you can do something about it. I could've done something right then.

You see, Jesus gave us all authority over the works of evil, and that incident in the airport was a work of evil. Jesus told us that He gave us authority to trample on serpents and scorpions. (Luke 10:19.) That means we don't have to let the devil run all over us or anybody else. We can pray about it and rebuke the devil. We have that authority!

Source: Jambalaya for the Soul by Jesse Duplantis
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers