“Maybe we were supposed to be a little late,” I heard my sister-in-law say from the back seat of my car.
Over Labor Day weekend, my husband, sister-in-law, and I traveled to see family. But our target leaving time was pushed back by two hours. I found myself a little frustrated. It was going to be a long drive anyway, and I was ready to get the show on the road. After all, I am a planner and our household timekeeper. But as for my husband? His idea of being on time is about five minutes late.
Hours later, we finally got on the road. We were a few miles down the road when I realized I had forgotten something. So, we turned back to get it. I apologized to my sister-in-law for the inconvenience. And her response reminded me of one my mother used to give in similar situations, “Maybe we were supposed to be a little late.”
Although I’ve heard it many times before, I never thought about it. Then, I went on this trip.
After traveling for about four and a half hours, it became dark and my husband turned onto a two-lane road. He set his cruise, and we were minutes away from our destination. As we climbed the hill, we felt the car halt. He’d braked for an armadillo. At the bottom of the hill stood a big, ugly, slow, scaly armadillo and my husband screeched to a stop to avoid it. We all laughed.
With the cruise off, we were traveling at a considerably slower pace. A few miles down the road, we were stunned to see a woman with no light of any form walking in the middle of the road. My first thought made me shiver. I can’t imagine what would have happened if we didn’t slow down for that scaly armadillo.
I instantly thought of my sister-in-law’s earlier statement and knew – we were supposed to be a few minutes late. If our trip had started on time or gone any other way, who knows if that armadillo would have been walking on the road at that exact moment? Sure, I may sound crazy, but I believe it was sent in our path for a reason.
Truthfully, that little event made me take a step back and think about more than that animal. Rather, I began to think long and hard about all the bumps along life’s road. Instantly, I was curious. How many times has the Lord sent me a reminder or an armadillo to protect me from something around the bend? How often have I chosen my path instead of His? The Bible says that “His mercies are new every day.” But how likely are we to receive them without pouting?
I was bent out of shape over being hours late, but it may have protected my family from something dangerous. His timing is always perfect, even if it makes us a little late sometimes.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
