His Protection
Jean Bundas
“…He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled.” (Joshua 24:17)
We chatted excitedly as the van returned down the mountain. Our missionary friends, Bill and Tammy, had taken us to see the private Romanian orphanage where the babies lived. The children were so tiny and precious. I wanted to scoop them up in my arms and take them home with me.
Bill drove cautiously through the curving mountain roads. There were six adults and two children in the van. I looked out the window at the awesome scenery. It seemed like I could see for miles from this height. The roads were very narrow and sometimes required Bill to pull the van over to let traffic going in the opposite direction get by. Men driving horse-drawn carts crept slowly up the mountain. Semi-trucks honked impatiently, wanting to pass them. There was a tiny fence at the very edge of the mountain road. It appeared that it had been placed there to try and separate the traffic on the road from the abyss on the other side. I could not quite figure out how that little fence was going to protect someone from going over the edge of mountain.
Suddenly, the van began to spin as we hit a patch of ice. “JESUS!” I yelled. “Oh Jesus, oh Jesus,” Tammy called out. “Jesus help us,” our friend’s little boy prayed in earnest. I braced and prepared for the long decent off the side of the mountain. I closed my eyes as thoughts raced through my mind. What would happen to our two precious daughters we left back in the States? Would we live through this? God, if we are going to die please let it go quickly.
The van came to a dead stop. I cautiously opened my eyes and looked around. All was silent around us as each person tried to process what had just happened. The van was heading in the wrong direction, but we were on solid ground. Bill jumped into action, trying to restart the van and get it out of the way before someone hit us. It took a couple tries but he finally got it running. He slowly made his way back up the mountain to find a spot wide enough to allow us to turn around.
Silence remained as we made the turn around and drove slowly past the place where we had come so close to going off the edge just moments prior. We took a moment to thank God for sending His angels to protect us. We laughed together as we imagined the angels joining together to push and pull the van away from the edge as it spun seemingly out of control.
Are you waiting until you feel you have life more together before calling on the name of the Lord? Do you struggle with feeling like something is too small or too great to bother Him with? There are times when life may seem so crazy that all you can pray is “Jesus help me!” In other situations, there may only be time to quickly call out the name of “Jesus!” Whatever situation you are in, He hears your cry for help. “In my distress I called to the LORD; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears” (II Samuel 22:7 NIV).
Precious Jesus, thank You for Your guidance and protection. Thank You that You hear our cries when we call out to You. Thank You that it is not about lofty prayers or knowing the perfect words to say. Thank You that You meet us right where we are, whether it is a “Jesus!” moment or a leisurely time spent in Your presence. You are awesome Lord! Amen.
