A “Ram in the Thicket” Story – by Reva Lachica Moore
Mary Grace and I were flying from Maryland to Baton Rouge with a layover in Charlotte, North Carolina – a very busy airport. Due to bad weather, our flight was delayed. When we finally landed in Charlotte, the captain asked the passengers who do not have connecting flights to stay in their seats and let those who do deplane first.
“I only have 14 minutes!” A woman passenger yelled.
Soon many passengers stood up, retrieving their belongings from the overhead bins. I was not worried about the delay because Mary Grace who booked our flight knew to have 2 to 3 hours of layover. I was just a tag along on this trip.
I walked out of the plane ahead of Mary Grace since she had to wait for a wheelchair. She said we have to go to terminal E. While I waited, I saw the sign overhead (Terminal E – 14 minutes). Dozens of passengers came out of the plane ahead of Mary Grace and the man pushing her wheelchair. Mary Grace pointed at me telling the man that I was with her. The man knew that we did not have much time, so he walked fast and I followed him. When we reached a moving walkway, the man pointed to it to tell me to take it. After several minutes of walking, I was out of breath. Besides, I had a difficult time walking in my short boots. I should have worn my walking shoes, I thought to myself.
I couldn’t keep up with the man pushing Mary Grace. I tried to run a bit but soon realized I was some 20 feet lagging behind. I hollered at Grace, “What terminal?” I wanted to make sure I got Terminal E right. I figured I could meet them there. At one point, I caught up with them while I walked on the third moving walkway. But then I lagged behind again. And I was panting! I still didn’t know that we were really late at this point.
God knew the predicament I was in and sent a “ram in the thicket” for me. I saw the man who was pushing Grace slow down a bit and he pointed at an abandoned wheelchair on the side. At first I thought he was going to change wheelchairs for Grace. I was puzzled. He stopped pushing Grace and pulled the other wheelchair and said, “Get in. I will push you both!” Without saying a word, I sat in the wheelchair (I have never been pushed in a wheelchair before) and the man pushed us both! He was pushing us very fast. A “ram in the thicket!” I thought to myself. God provided a ram (wheelchair) for me! I was amazed and grateful, but felt badly for the man.
Some 5 minutes later, we reached terminal E and I asked God to please have Gate 20 at the front area and not another block away. God answered that prayer. I heaved a sigh of relief when we reached the gate but nobody was there. “Oh, we’re early,” I said to myself. The man went straight to the desk and the agent asked for our boarding passes. Then the man pushed Grace to the corridor to the plane while I followed. Then I realized we were late! As we walked to our seats, I sensed dozens of eyes looking at us questioning, “Why are you late?”
As soon as we found our seats, I looked at my watch: 6:09. Then 3 minutes later, we heard the captain say, “The boarding door has been closed.” I couldn’t believe that we were late, but we made it!
This happening reminded me of our journey to heaven. Will we make it to heaven’s door before it closes? If indeed it was heaven’s door, I’d want to be there very early and ready always because, unlike a plane’s door where if you’d miss it, you can take the next flight. Once heaven’s door closes, there is NO next flight. I surely do not want to miss out at all. I know you don’t want to either.
God has provided our “Precious Ram in the Thicket – Jesus Christ” who bore our sins and died on Calvary’s cross for us all because He loves us and wants us to live with Him someday forever and ever.
I thanked God for letting us make it to the plane. An hour and a half later, we reached Baton Rouge and headed to Baggage Claim only to find out that our luggage didn’t make it to the plane. Although we did not have our luggage, we thanked God that we made it home. Our luggage were delivered the following day. And we made it home that night because God provided a ram (wheelchair) for me.
Genesis 22:13 “ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns…..”
P.S. We wished we could have taken a picture of us while the man was pushing us, but we were rushing, almost panicking that we only thought about it after we were seated on the plane. I borrowed this pic from the internet.)