In the same way that a mother lovingly protects her toddler from danger that the child is not even aware of, God watches over His children and protects them from unforeseen danger.
In 1996, Floyd took a job with Victory Express, driving a tractor trailer rig. He drove over the road for a few months until he landed a dedicated run. With a dedicated run, he drove strictly between two particular cities, picking up his load in this one and delivering it to that one. It took him a week to complete the run so he was home every weekend.
Truckers had to log their driving hours and they were only permitted so much time behind the wheel, and then they had to rest for so many hours.
Well, Floyd had been making this run for weeks. Every Monday morning, he left for work, and he returned on Friday evening. I was used to taking care of things by myself because Floyd was never home. Our son, Toby, was now 14 and his military ID card had expired on his birthday two months earlier. That was something I couldn’t take care of. ID cards could only be renewed by the sponsor. That was Floyd.
Late one Wednesday evening as I sat on the sofa reading, the door opened and Floyd walked in. I said, “What are you doing here?”
He said, “I ran out of driving time?”
“How?”
“I don’t know, but I have to rest for 24 hours before I can go back to driving.”
That worked out well. With Floyd off work and Toby out of school for summer, they went to base the next day to renew his ID card. The base was a one-hour drive from our house. While en route, Floyd started having chest pains. Arriving on base, he took Toby to Pass and ID and initiated the paperwork for his ID card. But his chest continued to hurt. A mere five minute drive from the base hospital, he took the completed paperwork and our son and drove to the Emergency Room.
A little while later, I got a phone call from Toby. “Mom, we’re at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base hospital. They just admitted Dad. Can you come and get me?”
When Floyd went to the hospital, he was on the verge of a massive heart attack which would have killed him. And by his own admission, had he been on the road with Victory Express, he wouldn’t have gone to the hospital. He would have delayed that visit until he’d gotten home. Knowing that, God ensured that he ran out of driving time and brought him home in the middle of the week.
Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die…” Everyone has an appointment with death, but God won’t take one of His children out of this world prematurely. And just like a caring father watches over his child, our loving Heavenly Father cares for us.