Monday morning, July 28, I (Steve) commented to Colleen that I really felt like I needed some quiet time alone with God, to meditate and read His Word. I was feeling restless in my spirit and felt that some quiet time with God would be just the ticket to restore my peace.
I was planning, that day, to ride the motorcycle to the countryside to deliver some messages and retrieve some information from the communities where we work. As a bit of an afterthought I stuffed my Bible into my backpack, with the idea that maybe I could stop somewhere along the way for a bit peaceful contemplation.
However… of course God knows me better than I know myself, and He knew that it was not highly likely that I would take a break from my frenetic pace (though there was really no hurry) to quiet myself. Therefore, he placed some obstacles in my path to force me to sit for a while.
I was only a part of the way there when all of the sudden the rear tire went flat on the cycle. This being the first time I was not sure what to do so I called a friend for advice. He told me to remove the tire and wait for a bus to take me to town to get it repaired. I will spare you all the details, but suffice it to say that the people were quite kind and helpful to me. I waited for close to an hour for a bus, which never came, and finally a friend came by with his truck and gave me a ride to town. The patch job did not take long , but I waited nearly 2 hours for a bus (2 passed that were so packed I could not have possibly gotten on) to take me back to the cycle.
During this quiet time I, amazingly, never really felt impatient, but instead realized that the experience was an answer to prayer. I spent some time reading the Bible and in the end God reminded me of the verse Micah 6:8 “… What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before your God.” This is my new challenge: What does it mean to ‘act justly’ in a place where we are surrounded by so much injustice.
Eventually I fixed the cycle and continued my trip only to have the tire blow out again. I parked the cycle on someone’s porch, removed the tire and took the last bus back to the city. I did not really “accomplish” anything that day as I only arrived at one of the communities, but it was a rich and fulfilling day because God spoke to me and I returned to the house in peace.
Praise God that He always knows just what we need.
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