God’s Taxi

Knowing how my mother hated to be late anywhere—especially for her first time to fly back home to visit relatives in Virginia—I made a point of making sure I allowed more than enough time to load up and make the eighty-mile trip from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City and hoped for time to spare. Things went well until I prepared to enter I-35 heading south. My car began to slow down and then came to a stop as I pulled onto the shoulder of the on-ramp. I sat there, stunned. My mother’s eyes revealed panic. Before she could say anything, I quickly stated, “We need to pray.” As I said “Amen” and lifted my eyes, I spotted another vehicle pulled onto the shoulder in front of us. A middle-aged woman carefully made her way to my side of our station wagon. Rolling down the window, I waited until she greeted us.

 “Is everything OK?” She seemed genuinely concerned.

I shook my head. “I am afraid my car chose a rather inopportune time to quit on me. We’re on the way to the airport for my mother to catch her flight.”

The stranger’s face lit up. “I’m headed to the airport, too, to pick up my daughter. Would you like a lift?” Would I! It didn’t take long to transfer Mother’s luggage to our rescuer’s car. Within minutes we were on our way. As we rode along, our angel-in-human-form explained why she was at that spot at that moment. “Normally, I would have left for the airport much sooner than this, but today of all days, I had several students who needed my assistance with the class I teach at the university and couldn’t get away.” She smiled broadly before continuing. “At first, I was annoyed with the delay, but now I can see God’s hand in it. I must confess I don’t normally stop like this, but I felt impressed it was OK for me to do so.”

Mother and I heartily agreed that our rescuer had indeed served a much-needed service as “God’s taxi” and were thankful our benefactress had listened to God’s promptings. My mother made it to the airport on time, and our new friend returned me to my vehicle, where my brother soon appeared to get my car running again. Once again, God made it clear that nothing takes Him by surprise. He had indeed answered our prayer before we prayed it.

Sharon Clark