“You never know who God will send your way!” I remarked to our pastor as we left the service late yesterday morning. He had called the congregation to prayer, but when the last of us got up from the altar, everyone had gone except the lone figure kneeling there, still earnestly seeking God. A newcomer, in town on a short-term work assignment, he had joined those who were praying for our upcoming revival next week, but he had outlasted them all in his intercession. The minister agreed with me; it seemed the earnest young man had been sent to stand in the gap.
My words came back to me as we came out of the church last night and walked toward our car. The same friend was standing there, and I heard him say something to Howard, like “I’ve got good news and bad news.” I couldn’t hear the good news, but the bad news was, “You have a flat tire!”
Oh, no! I thought. Just that morning before we left for church, I asked Howard to see if the tire looked low to him. I thought maybe it was just the way it was sitting on the edge of lawn by the driveway. He thought it was, so he stopped and put air in it before we left town for our small church some 15 miles away. After church we had driven 12 or fifteen miles farther to eat lunch at a favorite restaurant just over the Kansas line, then all the way home and back to service tonight, not ever thinking to check the tire again!
Howard looked in the trunk for a can of tire inflator, but he and our volunteer had a hard time getting the tire to take the air. He found another can he had kept for emergencies, but as soon as they inserted the air, the tire collapsed again. “I can feel air coming from the back,” the younger man said as he put his hand behind the tire. “I think the tire has a bad place in it.” Finally, they got the tire inflated enough that they thought it would make it a few blocks to the service station to be aired up properly.
It was no use, though, as the tire had to be changed. Our good Samaritan quickly inserted the jack, Howard loosened the lug nuts, and they soon were replacing the damaged tire with the temporary one from the trunk. I was grateful for the strength of youth as our helper tightened the lugs on the bolts and made the wheel secure for travel again, although we held our breath and prayed that we would make it home safely.
Giving us his cell phone number to call if we needed to, the young man waved to us as he headed to his motel room. We followed his lights until we took our turn toward home, confident that God had indeed sent someone our way! We’re getting a new tire this morning!
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