Praise God For The Smell Of Burning Oil
April 21, 2010It was a very hot day in BYT. Not a breath of air moved the banana tree leaves surroundingour house. Micah and I had planned to investigate the area on his motorbike today and findout where some of the surrounding villages are located. We need a mental map of the area,noting the closer villages first then spreading out like ripples on the water to know where theothers are later. A motorbike ride is always a welcome relief from the heat, so it did not takeus long to be off. It is challenging driving around here to say the least. To exit BYT, youmake a steep descent, open a crude stick gate at the bottom, cross 2 rivers, and then dodgeas many deep ruts as possible as you weave around hairpin turns filled with rockssometimes and deep dust at other times. It seems the further you go the rougher it gets.Micah says he loves to be the driver. He would never like to be the passenger on theseroads! I say we’re a good team because I love to be the passenger and never could I be thedriver over these unpredictable rugged trails. I felt sorry for the motorbike as we experiencedgut shaking rocks and some extremely steep places. (What will this be like in the rainyseason? I do not mind waiting to find out)! Three hours and 5 villages later we were nearinghome. Suddenly I felt alarmed and said, “Micah, you better stop and check your oil rightaway. I smell burning oil!” I said this in an authoritative manner, and surprised myself at theurgent way it came out of my mouth. Micah obediently stopped. As soon as the kick standwent down, he spotted it, - a long bright shiny green snake stretching across the right side ofthe road just in front of us! This green variety of pit viper is the fastest and most aggressivesnake in Thailand. They are extremely poisonous. Most snake bites here are from thisspecies of snake because they really must enjoy biting people! Micah grabbed his sling shotand took 3 tries before he nailed him in the head. We didn’t see much of him after that, ashe tumbled down the steep embankment. Much subdued and totally forgetting the burningsmell of oil, we slowly and silently continued our journey. It was Micah who finally broke thesilence. “You know Mom; I don’t think you really smelled oil. God made you smell itbecause I had just checked it. I didn’t think it made any sense to stop and check it rightthen.” I took a deep breath; the true reality of the situation had dawned upon him first. Yes,we could have run over him and he would instantly fling up and bite! God’s timing is alwaysperfect! Especially if you were to know that my personal devotions that morning was Luke10. Verse 19 had specifically shone out to me and I had claimed it for each of us.“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions. And over all the powerof the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you!” Luke 10:19Oh God, You are so good!