RACK! “What on earth was that?” I said to Graham as he got back into the car after a rest stop.

“I have no idea,” he responded, “but it didn’t sound good!” He got out of the car to take a look but could not see any obvious cause for the loud sound we had heard. He started the engine and began to ease out of the parking space. As he turned the steering wheel, there was a loud crunching, grating sound.

“That sounds bad!” I sighed. “I think we had better call the breakdown service.”

It was Sabbath, and we were on our way to a speaking appointment 130 miles from our home. We had made good progress on our journey, so we had decided to stop for a short while, never anticipating there would be a problem with the car. After speaking with a local garage and discussing various options, we decided we would have them tow us to the nearest dealer repair center. We were told we would have to wait about an hour for the tow truck to arrive. We phoned the pastor to alert him to our predicament and to pass our apologies to the church.

“I thought we were being taken to the Heritage dealers,” I said to the tow truck driver as he pulled up outside another garage.

“I received instructions to bring you here instead,” he replied.

The mechanic found that the suspension spring on the driver’s side of the car had snapped. They showed us the damage. “It’s unusual for this to happen” said Nicky, the customer service assistant. “It’s a good thing you weren’t driving at the time. The broken spring could have punctured your tire, causing an accident!” We breathed a prayer of thanks that this had not happened when we were driving at 70 mph on the motorway.

As we waited, Nicky started chatting with us. After some initial conversation, she told us about her 15-year-old daughter Amy. Eighteen months earlier, Amy began feeling severe pain in her lower back. In a matter of hours, she became paralyzed from the waist down. Doctors told them it had been a viral attack of the spine. Since then, Amy had undergone intensive physical therapy and hydrotherapy in an effort to restore the use of her legs. Now she was able to get around on crutches. “We were told that what she doesn’t recover in two years, she may never recover,” said Nicky. We could hear the concern in her voice.

I shared with her about my experience some years ago when I suddenly lost nearly all use of my arms and legs and spent two and a half years in a wheelchair. I could certainly sympathize with what her daughter felt. I went on to share how God had healed me.
Three days later when Graham returned to pick up the car, I sent some flowers and a card to Nicky to thank her for her kindness. I told her we would be praying for Amy. Please join us in praying that God will heal Amy according to His will and in such a way that she and her mother will know that it was through His power.

Is this why our car broke down and we were towed to this repair center? I reflected as Graham and I continued our journey in the courtesy car Nicky had arranged for our use. Only God knows.

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