Welcome to our series You're Not Alone, in which Allen Sonter, for many years a missionary educator in the islands of the South Pacific, tell stories that help us to know that God is always watching over us wherever we are.
This episode is entitled Angels on the Road. These two stories happened a few kilometers south of Toowoomba on the New England Highway.
The first incident happened to me in March 1997. I was driving a 1975 Holden Premier from Toowoomba down to Newcastle in New South Wales. I had left Toowoomba quite early in the morning and was just south of Stanthorpe at about 940 when there was a sudden sound like a gunshot.
Car shuddered a bit. I realized that one of the tires had blown out, but couldn't tell which one. I was a bit shaken by the unexpected noise and almost involuntarily put my foot on the brake.
Without any apparent tendency to pull either one way or the other, the car slowed to a stop on the shoulder of the road. At this point the road curved gently to the right and beyond the shoulder was a drop of almost 2 meters. Quickly I jumped out to see which tire had blown.
Both on the driver's side were okay, so I went around the back and checked the rear left side still okay. Then I saw smoke coming from the left front tire and was rather shocked to see how ripped up it was really shredded in places. I looked at my watch so I would know how much time this mishap had cost.
As I took off the damaged tire, I noticed that a large hole had been blown in the inner face and down the inside wall, and that my braking had shredded and burnt the tire rather badly. At the time I wondered at the severity of the damage in view of the fact that the car had handled so well. Fortunately, I had a good spare, so I put it on and again checked the time, noting that I had been held up for just ten minutes.
As I started off again, I thanked God for saving me from harm, recalling stories I had heard about serious accidents resulting from blowouts, especially when the front tires had been involved. When I reached Tenderfield, about 50 so down the highway, I had two new tires fitted to the front of the car. I don't believe in taking risks just because God looks after me in emergencies.
When I reached my father's house just south of Newcastle that evening, I told him about the blowout. He was almost 88 years of age at the time and was a very committed Christian. He has since passed away.
He asked me at what time the blowout had happened, so I told him it would have been about 20 to ten New South Wales time. On hearing this, he said that early in the morning, in his regular prayers, he had prayed that I would have a safe trip. But that about the time of the blowout he felt strongly impressed to pray again for my safety.
He had thought to himself, why should I pray again for Alan's safety? I've already asked God for that. But the impression came back pray again now. So he had left his workout in the garden and had gone inside and prayed again that I would be kept safe on the road.
I am sure now that the reason why the blowout had caused so little upset to the car was that God had sent his angels to take control of the situation in answer to my father's prayer. After telling me about the incident of that morning my father showed me a letter he had recently received from a relative in South Africa telling of an incident in which the front left hand tyre of a family relative's car had blown out causing the car to roll over. My relative had almost been killed in the accident.
She was in intensive care for some weeks and the doctors considered her fortunate to be alive. Why does God save some and not others when he is with all of us everywhere? I don't know the answer to that, but I do know God would like to be able to save us all because he loves us all. But in this world of sin he has chosen not to interfere with our free will and he has apparently given Satan some freedom to exercise his destructive power.
To demonstrate just how cruel and unjust he is, the first part of the Book of Job in the Bible gives us an insight into Satan's role in some unhappy experiences. The second story for today was told to me by my friend Ralph late one afternoon in 1995. He was traveling to Toowoomba with a friend from Lang Gothlin, just north of Gyra in New South Wales.
Ralph was a committed Christian and knowing the danger on the road, had asked God to protect them on the trip. Their car was towing a heavily loaded trailer and after they reached the bottom of the Ben Lomond range, a station wagon passed them, the driver making signs to them that something was wrong with the trailer. Ralph's friend, who was driving, applied the brakes and just as the car slowed, the wheel dropped off the trailer, helping them to a rather quick stop.
The wheel, which had obviously been loose for some time had chopped through the studs and damaged the holes in the wheel itself. Fortunately, they had a spare but could do nothing about the cut studs on the hub. As Ralph and the driver were surveying the damage, wondering what to do, station wagon pulled in behind them.
The driver, who had alerted them to the problem had turned around and come back to give a hand. As the stranger emerged from his vehicle, ralph and his friend noted that he was a tough looking giant of a man with heavily tattooed arms. He looked as though he had just got out of prison.
He came up to the trailer, and his glance took in the situation. Oh, your wheel came off, was his first comment. Then, after a pause I can fix this for you if you like.
I'm a truckee, and I've got a workshop at home just up the road at the next little town. Ralph and his friend were grateful for the offer, and the stranger said that they would have to get the stub axle off the trailer. The jacks they had would not fit under the trailer axle.
So Ralph, who has a heart condition, made a half hearted attempt to lift the trailer, but realized that it was far too heavy. The truckee told him that he had had an operation on his back just three months before. Despite the physical problems of the two men, when there seemed to be no other way to get the trailer axle up off the ground, the truckee suggested that they both try lifting it.
So while the friend had the spare wheel ready to slide under the axle, the two men took hold of the trailer and lifted. Miraculously, the axle came up, and the friend was able to slip the wheel underneath. Then they took off the stub axle, and the truckee prepared to take it home for repair.
While they were working to get off the stub axle, the truckee told Ralph and his friend that he had been broken down numbers of times, but nobody had ever helped him. However, he said he wouldn't have liked to have been in their situation, so he was happy to help. Ralph noted that the truckee, for all his rough appearance, spoke in a refined manner, never once used any coarse language.
After the truckee left with the axle, ralph and his friend waited by their vehicle. By now it was becoming dark, and many vehicles, including two police cars, passed without anyone stopping to offer assistance. After about an hour and a half, the truckee returned with new Studs on the hub.
Within a few minutes, he and Ralph had replaced the stub axle and had the spare wheel fitted. Ralph and his friend were most appreciative of the Truckee's help and thanked him sincerely. He wanted no payment for his work, but Ralph insisted on giving him something anyway.
When Ralph and his friend went on their way again, the truckee followed them as far as his hometown to be sure they had no further problems. When you think of the way everything worked out in this story, you realize that there were just too many coincidences for things to have happened merely by chance. The wheel stayed on all the way down the range, where there could have been serious results if it had come off.
The passing stranger alerted them to the problem just in time to prevent the wheel coming off at speed. Two men with physical problems were able to lift the trailer. The stranger was a truckee who was willing to help and had the facilities to repair the axle.
The truckee never told them his name, and Ralph's friend thinks he must have been an angel in disguise. Whether the stranger was an angel or whether he was just a very kind and helpful man is not the important point. The important point is that God was there on the highway that day and he looked after Ralph and his friend.
Do you ever wish that you had someone looking after you, planning for your welfare? Well, you do have such a one, and you should know that you're not really alone. God is with you, just a prayer away, and he loves you and wants to help you. These stories illustrate the truth that God does plan for us if we just ask Him to do so and trust Him as he works things out.
You've been listening to our series You're Not Alone stories told by Allen Sonter that help us to know that God is always watching over us, wherever we are. If you have any comments or questions, send an email to
[email protected] or give us a call within Australia on zero two four nine seven, three three four five.
Six. May God bless you and remember you are not alone. You have been listening to a production of Three ABN Australia australia Radio.
