In the next part of our trip we set out to go to Bulman and Weemol, for what we were told would be about a four-hour drive. Oh my, how wrong that guesstimation was. First of all I would like to say that leaving at 7pm to travel to a town in the outback in the wet season is not very smart. Secondly, it is also much more challenging to drive when it is WET. Nonetheless, we did just that.
In what I can only imagine would have been a true Aussie experience, we traveled along a mostly dirt (mud) road quite frequently covered in water. If you think of how much road damage occurs when it rains too much in the states, amplify that times 10 and remove the pavement, and you’d get Australian road damage. After (no joke) 6 ½ hours we came to a point where there was a “river” that we deemed not only croc infested but also uncrossable. Mind you, this is all at 11:30 pm and so we’re all dead tired.
My team deceided to turn around about 100 yards, to park in front of a store near the Mainoru River, until the morning when we would reassess the situation. We parked the troopster and camped out, with a tent on top and three people in the car. The next morning it must have been a little bit of a shock for the store owner to look out and see a troopie with a tent on the top of it sitting outside of the gate of your shop. The owner, Sonja came out and we told her about our dilemma. Very graciously, she invited us in for coffee and from there on out helped us in any way she could. We found out that what we had thought was the river was in fact NOT the river (hehe) but the river overflow. YIKES! The actual river was about FOUR times the size of the river run off. We were most certainly stuck.
Being stuck for three days may seem like an inconvenience to most but to me it was just another reminder that sometimes we need to be still before God and listen to His urgings. God reminded me that even in times where things don’t seem to be working out like I expected or He hasn’t answered “yes” or “no” that I still need to be faithful to seek Him. Many times in the Christian life we will have waiting moments, and it is in those moments where we must choose to serve God, even without a clear picture of the future. Perhaps the best way to demonstrate trust in God and to serve Him is to do so while in the midst of a “Be still” moment.
Our waiting was worth it in the end even though to some it may seem that we were unable to actively do ministry for a little while. The future may not be clear and God might not give exact pictures of what we’re supposed to do, but He doesn’t ask us to waste the “be still” moments. He only asks for obedience, and asks us to trust that He knows best.
