Snakebite!
It was a typical Papua New Guinea Highlands morning with lots of fog and clouds, and we were preparing to take a Bible translator family out to an airstrip near the people group they work with. An attempt to make the trip a few days earlier had not been successful because of poor weather, and now a look at satellite imagery was again keeping us from taking off as planned.
Finally around 1:00 p.m. the satellite view showed clouds breaking up, so we took off. An hour later we reached our destination and unloaded the passengers.
We were just ready to get back in the airplane and fly home when a police vehicle came speeding down the road toward us. A man jumped out and urged us to fly their passenger, a snakebite victim, to a hospital. They were desperate to save her life. Of course, we agreed, but God with perfect timing had already arranged for a solution much closer at hand. The family we had just dropped off had anti-venom with them. They treated the snakebite immediately. There was no need for the patient to be flown out!
Suddenly it hit me. Had we landed there earlier in the week—even earlier that day—we wouldn’t have been there, and the translator family would have already headed down the river by boat to their destination. We all had to be there at that exact time.
The next morning I took a look at the satellite weather for that area—perfectly clear! I felt a bit foolish being surprised that God still has control over the weather. Of course he does! It’s a good reminder for us to be sensitive to what God is doing when things like poor weather, COVID-19, or cancelled travel plans get in our way.
