My son and I were en route to Cincinnati one day last week when the tire pressure light on the dashboard turned on. I “just happened” to be about a ½ mile from an exit, and I “just happened” to spot one of those large auto/truck gas stations at the exit, which happen to be my preferred place to stop on long interstate drives. Plus, I knew they’d have air available for the tire, if it was needed.
We exit the car and examine the tires, and sure enough, the left front tire was nearly flat. In fact, we could hear air hissing out of it. Then my son spotted a rip in the tire tread.
We walk into the store and I tell them about the flat tire, and the guy offers to sell me fix-a-flat, but he says it probably won’t work. Then, he suggests I go to a tire shop that is not too far around the corner. He begins giving me directions there, and while I’m standing there trying to process the directions, a young lady “just happens” to come in and hears the conversation and believe it or not, says she is heading to the tire store right then, and her boyfriend “just happens” to work there – and I can follow her there. (For real?) I agree to follow her there.
Yes, I trusted a stranger, but she seemed trustworthy; besides, we were following her, not getting in the car of any strangers. Outside, she even looked at my tire, and it “just so happens” that she grew up going to a tire shop because her dad used to have one (for real!) She even put her own $1.00 in the air machine to fill up my flat tire with just enough air to get us to the shop.
We follow her to the tire shop and she “happens to know” the folks there and tells them to be nice to me, to take care of me. (Who is this nice stranger??) And they do. Very promptly. Within a half hour, I have the car back and they were able to patch repair the tire. No new tire needed. He says the patch will probably outlast the life of the tire!
Too many “just so happens” happening that day. God’s hand was there, protecting us the whole time. I am amazed to think we could have been stranded on the side of the road for hours, or ripped off by someone who could have told me I needed a new tire, and I wouldn’t have had a choice but to get the new tire. Or who knows?
At no time, was I worried or upset or even scared, because at every step, there was a “just so happens”. I can’t imagine a better scenario having a flat tire on the interstate. (Other than not having one, haha!)
Each day, any number of things can go wrong. Any number of circumstances, good or bad, and ranging from the small to the large, are possible, each and every single day. We aren’t usually aware of what we have been spared from. But sometimes, we do get a clue, as in the flat tire situation that I just described.
I know that tomorrow could be very different. But I am very grateful to have a God who reminds me He is always there.
How have you seen God’s hand in your life recently? Even in small ways? A smile from a friend, a favorite flower blooming… something that points to the grace of the Creator watching over you, letting you know in even small ways, that He cares about you?
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