But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your stead.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people in exchange for your life.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth -
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.
(Isaiah 43:1-7)
So. On Tuesday I had an OT appointment for an interview at 7.30 p.m. in Subang. I should have left earlier, perhaps…because at 6.30 it started to rain. And OH BOY did it pour! A little worried that I would be late for my appointment, our editor offered to lead me to Subang using a shortcut she knew. She also noted that its not always jammed going to Subang when it rains.
She was right! To my great surprise (I have to endure the LDP every.single.day – yes, that includes weekends – the LDP is our Bangkok) it wasn’t that jammed. By the time we got on the Federal highway it was pretty clear and cars were zooming past, all probably thinking “I’d better get home quick, before the jam starts!”.
It would have been better, maybe, for me at least, if it WAS jammed…because suddenly my wiper stopped working!
Rain was pelting on my windscreen and I felt paralyzed – “I’m WILLING it to move, but it’s not moving”. I couldn’t see a thing! I prayed “Lord! Help! I can’t stop the car now, but at the same time I can’t see where I’m going!”. Suddenly I felt a HUGE SPRAY, like the Niagara Falls was falling on my car. I had unwittingly passed under a flyover and the rain water was spilling down from it! My screen cleared for awhile.
I was supposed to meet my interviewee, Dr. Kumar at Taj Curry House. I had no idea where that was and Dr. Kumar had said “near SJMC”. As you probably know, SJMC is NOT SJMC anymore. Now it is “Sime Darby Medical Centre”. So, instead of calling anyone to check, I decided to consult my “state-of-the-art” Blackberry GPS – which very confidently pointed to Puchong!
Alamak! But…my wiper is not working…how??? I contemplated calling off the appointment, but Dr. Kumar had come all the way from Banting to meet me. I just didn’t have the heart. Insanely, I decided to go on to Puchong even though I could not see a thing.
The sky grew darker and whatever blurry vision I had of the road before disappeared. Soon I was literally driving blindly…all the praying, “GOD let me not bang into a divider! Or another car! Or fall off the highway!” and then thinking, “oklah…if I go Home to Jesus today, that’s ok. That’s ok, Lord”.
Guess my time wasn’t up yet, God still has work for me to do here. I saw an Esso station out of my side windows and headed towards that. Upon reaching, I turned off the engine, wiped my windscreen and THEN called Dr. Kumar again.
Me : Dr. Kumar…the restaurant is in Puchong ah?
Dr. Kumar : PUCHONG??? No! It’s right opposite SJMC, now Sime Darby.
Me : *Slaps forehead*
Before starting my car again, I prayed for my wipers, and they came back on (and is working today…don’t know why they failed that time) and made my way back to Subang, where I was at the beginning.
The incident showed me some things about God and my relationship with Him. Even though I WAS NOT smart not to double check with Dr. Kumar about the venue, instead relying on my GPS and that ended up with me being in such a scary situation– it taught me that God is able to turn any situation for good, and in this case, for me to learn something about Him.
Later that night, I read about God delivering the Israelites out of Egypt. (you can read about that here). Reflecting on previous events that day, I could only draw the conclusion that God is faithful, forever, to His people. His people at that time, were the nation of Israel.
But today, because Jesus Christ has died for our sins so that we too can experience God’s love, we are His people. He is relentless in His love for us and forever faithful to us. May we be as relentless in our love and faith for Him.
***I know “volatile” doesn’t really fit, but, I couldn’t find a better word that starts with V!
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