We all make mistakes.
I make mistakes.
And you know you truly NEED grace when you have made the stupidest mistake, hoping God will somehow make it right.
And when you count on God, you pray persistently, and it really, somehow just works out, you know it is grace.
Grace from God. So real.
I had to take a taxi in a hurry to Dehradun, catching a 21:20 train. It was at least 1 hour away to reach that city and perhaps longer to reach the railway station because of traffic. It was 19:40. All the luggages I had was loaded. I knew I was short on time, but when the taxi driver knew I was in a hurry and decided to charge Rs.20 for parking ticket and Rs.200 extra for the “luggages”, I could not control myself having to be right and fair.
I did try to tell the driver I don’t need a second car to take the luggages. And he said the police in Dehradun is strict and will give fines. I said don’t worry, let’s go and see.
At 19:50, he insisted on charging me Rs.200 more on top of the Rs.720 fare, I refused and he asked me to leave his car.
That was not fair. I said maximum Rs.100 extra for the luggages. But greed is a dangerous thing. He refused.
So I had to run to another taxi, explaining the situation at my best. I was told to go to the ticket counter.
Well this is India. With doubt and anger, I went to the ticket counter explaining everything including my final offer being Rs.720+Rs.100. I wasn’t even sure whether he understood or was teaming up with the taxi driver against me.
I really worried that moment. It was just Rs.100 difference. So I thought I should just reconcile with the taxi driver by agreeing to his last minute price.
But he was talking to the guy at ticket counter inside the inner room. I wasn’t sure what was happening.
The ticket guy finished writing something on his journal, suddenly he said “Give me 820 rupees”. He arranged a car and it was coming in five minutes.
I felt very stupid. For this 100 I had to waste time and energy. I felt helpless. Yet by the time I realized, I already paid him and the car just showed up.
The offloading and reloading work went smoothly. And at 20:00, I was on the road with a new taxi driver.
Then in the car I realized it was God’s grace that I experienced justice. I was not mistreated by the taxi counter. I was not expecting kindness or justice. I reacted, God protected.
The new taxi driver asked what time my train was. 21:20. He realized we didn’t have much time so he tried his best to make his car fly.
And by 20:50, I was still in the outskirt of Dehradun. I wasn’t close to the railway station.
Yet this new taxi driver had a “new route” that had “no traffic”. He went really fast but it wasn’t fast enough.
Then by 21:05 I realized there was a possibility that I might miss the train.
We stopped at a signal. He turned around and said, only 5 minutes. It was 21:07 already, and the traffic was quite congested.
And plus I had to take one more luggage from the cloakroom.
And I knew I needed that grace for the train to be delayed. It is a miracle for Indian trains to be on time, but this time I knew it would totally be God’s grace if He could delay this train.
I screamed at the cloakroom person, and the porters, and ran for the train on platform No.2.
When we reached home, the train started to move 5 minutes after. It was not delayed. And I was on it because of God’s grace.
I need God in my travels as well as my daily life. I know He is in control and He is my help.
If I didn’t insist on not paying Rs.200 extra, perhaps I would save myself from this drama or perhaps I would have missed the train because the greedy driver may not know the new route.
I don’t know.
Or maybe if the porters weren’t there, I wouldn’t have been able to reach the train with all my luggages.
What I do know is God is in control, and I really need His grace.
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you for getting me on that train.
Traveling Mega
