“The helpless call to him, and he answers; he saves them from all their troubles.
⁷ His angel guards those who honour the Lord and rescues them from danger. “ [Psalm 34 : 6 – 7]

I love this story and have used it in the church before, but it talks so much about simple faith and the help God gives in times of Prayer. Here we go:-

“The car gave a violent lurch and came to a stop. “What was that!” the children cried. Tib looked down into the deep draw below us. “I think we’ve gone through the bridge” she said. It was true. As soon as I stepped out onto the narrow log and dirt bridge straddling the steep gully, I saw that our rear wheel had plunged through the rotten timbers up to the axle.

Tib took the three kids back to solid ground. I jacked up the car, intending to fill the hole, then let the wheels back down and drive off. But searching that barren landscape produced nothing but small twigs and pebbles which fell right through the break in the bridge. Nowhere could we find rocks or logs big enough to plug the hole.

Since we had come to Africa we had never been in clearer mind of guidance. We were still fifteen miles from the village where we planned to spend the night. Behind us were miles of empty bush: all afternoon we had met one car on the winding dirt track we were following in this little-travelled district of Uganda. Thunderclouds were building up over the Nile, and night would be upon us in half and hours’ time. We couldn’t spend the night in the car for fear the rest of the bridge would collapse. We couldn’t stay out of the car because this was lion country. A mile back we had passed a fresh hippo carcass. 

And so in this emergency we did what we had done frequently since arriving on the African continent. We asked God what to do. We used a principle we had used before, thanking Him ahead of time for the answer which we confidently expected would come. Then we simply waited.

And in the strange calm which follows this attitude, the answer was there, simple and perfect. I got out the spare tyre, slipped it beneath the jacked-up wheel and found that it straddled the hole exactly. I let the car back down, and, to the cheers of the children, drove off the bridge. Just in time too, for with nightfall came the first wave of a driving tropical rainstorm.

Now it would be possible, of course, to say that we had not received guidance at all, we were just using common sense. Once I would have been inclined to agree. But not today. For our African year, from beginning to end, above all was an adventure in guidance. There where so much was strange, we found ourselves daily, hourly, sometimes, minute – by minute asking Gods direction.

[“Glimpses of His Glory”, by John and Elizabeth Sherrill]

LET US PRAY

ETERNAL FATHER,

You are strong and mighty and You save us in all the difficulties of life.

We are glad that we can come to You and that You listen,

That You also act and give us the know how or the strength

To see things through. 

Preserve us from despair and anxiety and help us to remember 

To come to You when we are enmeshed in our troubles.

We give to You the Glory and we give You our thanks

For Your Loving Hand ever reaching out to us.

We ask inJesus Name. AMEN