Taxi Rank Tribulations and the God Who Restores Time

In my post The Year of His Restoration, I said that this year, God will restore time that we have lost. And when God restores, He does so in quantity, quality or both.

This afternoon, Ling and I ended up in the Singapore CBD to buy dinner for her parents. Getting stuck in the CBD at peak hour however is no laughing matter.

We debated about the best way to get back home. I thought that we should take the train closer to home and then catch a bus. My male logic said that trains didn’t have to compete in the traffic jam and the schedule was certain. Ling wanted to take a taxi.

We ended up at a taxi rank with only four other people in the queue. It looked promising. But as time passed, it became apparent that this wasn’t a popular pick up point amongst taxi drivers.

After waiting about 40 minutes, I said to Ling that we should cut our losses and take the train. She prayed and looked expectantly down the road.

By this time, we were at the front of the line.

She said, “We are already at the front of the queue. We are first in line.”

“We might be first in line, but we are first in a line of nothing! Come on, let’s go to the subway,” I muttered tersely.

“But what if the next taxi comes just as we leave?”

“It’s fine. Just go and don’t look back.” (I thought I could demonstrate my biblical prowess and therefore the correctness of my position with an allusion to Lot’s wife).

“Here’s a taxi coming!”

“That one is on call. None of the taxis are stopping here.”

“You pray!”

(I stayed silent. I was too annoyed to pray).

“There’s another taxi turning into our street.”

“This is the last one. If it doesn’t stop, we are leaving and catching the train.”

The taxi immediately picked up someone further up the street.

“Okay, that’s it! Let’s go!”

Ling stood still, obstinately fixing her gaze to the start of the street.

And just as I was ready to turn around and walk away in frustration, a taxi with a green light on the roof miraculously cruised up to the rank.

Ling opened the door, I looked down and humbly climbed into the taxi and we were on the way home. She managed a smile as to say “aren’t you glad I stuck to my guns”, whilst resisting the impulse to gloat.

Even though we lost a good 45 minutes or so, the Lord redeemed our time. We got home in the same amount of time we would have taken had we caught the train. We didn’t need to walk, change train lines, transfer to a bus, and get caught in the rain. Instead, we sat down and rested in air-conditioned comfort.

And in an ironic twist, as we got onto the freeway, we noticed a decal on the taxi drivers’s windshield – the New Creation Church logo!

I’m sure the Lord had a bit of a chuckle over this episode. It took a woman of faith to persevere in prayer. And I was blessed despite my lack of faith!