Pages of Joy // John Greco

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

Many winters ago, I was traveling along the Massachusetts Turnpike with a friend on our way back to school. Though the forecast had called for light snow, what my car’s wipers were sloshing back and forth across my windshield was anything but light. Before long, our compact car was skidding and swerving, and I was doing everything I could to keep all four tires on the blanket of ice and packed snow that covered the road.

Eventually, I lost control, and the car slid into a shallow embankment on the side of the turnpike. We were okay, and we found ourselves just a short walk from rest stop where we could get out of the cold, call for a tow truck (this was in the days before cell phones were commonplace), and grab a bite to eat while we waited. We sure felt lucky.

A few weeks later, I was traveling along the same stretch of highway when I saw a sign for that rest stop, indicating it was the last stop for twenty miles. And when I came to the place where my car had skidded off the road, I noticed something else—the rest stop was gone! Nothing was there but a burned out shell of a building. I later found out that the entire complex had caught fire just a few days after our visit. If my car had gone off the road just a few miles further in either direction—or a few days later—my friend and I would have been stuck out in the cold.

God knows exactly what we need, when we need it. Remember that. Even when the unexpected happens in your life, it isn’t unexpected to Him.

“A God wise enough to create me and the world I live in is wise enough to watch out for me.”

Philip Yancey