“In the day of my trouble I shall call upon You, For You will answer me” Psalm 86:7.
Throughout my family’s life the Lord has repeatedly shown Himself strong on our behalf by answering countless prayers. We had occasion to review some of these experiences during our friend Tulip’s visit. We sat around the table rejoicing over the times that God has provided food when the pantry was bare and money to pay bills when our resources fell far short. God hears His children and is faithful to provide, we encouraged our friend.
Just a day or so later, while driving Tulip back to Greenville, God vividly demonstrated His willingness to answer prayer. As we approached Atlanta we heard a strange noise coming from our van. Our concern was aroused, but when we changed lanes the noise stopped and we assumed it must simply have been some grating in the road. Not giving the noise another thought, we decided to stop in Marietta for a bite to eat and some shopping. After our break, we got back on the road and drove almost all the way through Atlanta when suddenly we heard that strange noise again, this time much louder. It only took a couple of seconds for us to realize that something was terribly wrong with our tire. Thankfully traffic was relatively light, and the Lord cleared the way for us to limp across approximately six lanes to the wide shoulder on the other side of the road. Upon inspection we discovered the mangled remains of our ruptured tire. None of us girls (only my mom, Tulip, little Sarah, and I were on the trip) know how to change a tire, so we started praying. My mom pulled the spare tire out of its hold but the jack was nowhere to be found and we could not reach my dad on the phone to ask him where else to look. Tulip wanted to try to flag someone down, but I explained that it could be potentially dangerous for just anyone to stop. Instead we simply needed to pray for the Lord to send someone trustworthy to help us–a policeman or a nice person.
Just a few minutes later, while we continued to pray and survey our situation, someone did stop. A pick-up truck pulled off the road in front of us and a dark, solidly built man with an island accent climbed out. The man, whose bumper sticker led us to suspect he was an off-duty state trooper, kindly yet very firmly took command of the situation, warning us to not get near the edge of the road. Still unable to locate our jack, he dug his out, only to discover that it was incompatible with our wheel. After a moment’s thought, he decided to get the proper tool from an auto parts store off the next exit and promised to return. Shortly after he left, Daddy returned our call and told us to find the jack hidden in a side panel of the van, which, in our excitement, we had completely overlooked.
Just minutes later, another man stopped–a very nice person with a little girl buckled in the backseat. He was able to quickly change the tire and gave us directions to the nearest Wal-Mart where we could purchase a new tire. Meanwhile the other man returned and my mom, running over to his truck, thanked him, giving him a tract and some money for his trouble. We very much appreciate his kindness!
The second man refused any remuneration, taking only the tract and saying that maybe one day someone would help his little girl. About five minutes later we pulled off the exit he had instructed us to take and were debating upon which way to turn, when suddenly we realized that the man was still in front of us. He graciously led us all the way to the Wal-Mart (about a mile down the road), pointing out the auto center before going on his way. How kind of him to make sure that we found the place safely! How good of the Lord to so thoroughly and specifically answer our prayers!
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me” Psalm 50:15.
