After graduating college, my husband Tim and I served as missionaries in Africa for a few years. Many times throughout my life I have reflected back to the experiences I had and the lessons that I learned during the time we were there.

Tim and I had some friends who were also working as missionaries and we had a trip planned to visit with them. Where we lived and in those days a trip like this was a major undertaking. We had never made the drive and there were no road signs or traffic lights to help us find the way. No gas stations to fuel up or to get directions if we missed a turn.

We filled up the car with everything that we needed to take. We made sure to have enough gas to get there and back, because there was nowhere to buy it along the way. Not too long after we left home we started to have some problems with the care.

Tim tinkered with the engine but it didn’t help. We prayed and asked the Lord for wisdom to know how to fix it so we could make it to our destination. We had really been looking forward to this trip. It became obvious that we couldn’t make it another hundred miles since the car would go no more than 25 miles per hour, so we turned around and limped home. I was confused and disappointed. Why God hadn’t answered our prayer?

After returning home we had a mechanic check out the car. He was amazed at what he found and he told us we were lucky to be alive! The gas line was leaking right down into the engine and he couldn’t believe that the engine hadn’t exploded already. If we had made the rest of the trip, tragedy would have almost certainly happened.

This news was a huge shock to us! God knew much better than we did, and he chose to protect us despite our prayers to continue on the trip. He helped us to think clearly enough to make the decision to turn around, and that probably saved our lives.

Thank you, Father, that Your knowledge is so vast that it sees beyond the surface to the core of our deepest needs. Your wisdom never ceases to amaze me!

Following several years as a missionary, Dr. Ann Shorb began a career in counseling and is the founder of CCES in Hanover, PA. She provides a variety of services including pre marital counseling and help with sexual addiction recovery.