I was driving a long stretch of what felt like nothing between Dallas, Texas and Fayetteville, Arkansas. Oklahoma is beautiful, but it can also feel a bit…bare.

A friend had called to catch up and make the trip less lonely. As we were winding down the conversation, I pulled off to a random gas station. I’d been driving a few hours and it was time for a bathroom break. As I sat in the parking lot, about to get out, she suddenly said, “Oh! I wanted to tell you something else…” so I listened and started my car back up. No sense in sitting while we chatted if I could be driving, right?

I got back on the highway and nearly four seconds later, one of her kids was having a dramatic moment and she suddenly had to go.

I chuckled to myself because now I was going to just get off one exit later. The silver lining? McDonald’s was attached to this gas station, which meant an opportunity for fries. I walked inside, used the bathroom, and grabbed a snack. A convenience store was attached to it, so I picked up my favorite candy bar, too. (Reese’s anyone?)

There was a kind, middle-aged woman at the desk and we made small talk. As we chatted and I entered my pin for the purchase, I felt a nagging sense that I should ask her how I could pray for her.

These moments don’t happen too often, but I try to be sensitive to them. Sometimes, God moves in unexpected ways and I do not want to write something off just because it’s a little uncomfortable. I’d like to say that I listened right away, but the fact of the matter is? I didn’t. I decided to leave. After all, I still had a few hours to go on my drive to Arkansas.

I walked out of the store, but as I approached my car, I couldn’t get it out of my head that I was supposed to go and ask that woman how I could pray for her.

So I finally rolled my eyes, swallowed my pride, and prepared for the awkward ask. Still, I knew that surely on the other side would be some amazing prayer request that ministered to this woman. I was going to make her day with my timely ask! Right?

Wrong.

I stepped back in, walked up to the counter, and said, “Excuse me, this is sort of random, but is there any way I can be praying for you?”

She looked at me with a confused expression and said, “No, thank you.”

“Okay, I was just curious. Have a nice day,” I said, slinking off with my tail between my legs.

As I sat back in my car, recovering from what just happened and preparing for the last few hours of my drive, I heard a voice.

“Melissa?”

I looked out my open window and saw a friend from my church along with her husband and two wild kids. They’d been driving for eight hours from a family trip and were stopping for a break.

“We’re going to McDonald’s for dinner. Want to join us?”

“Sure,” I said, getting out of my car for a third time in the last 10 minutes.

As we sat together, the kids ate and I asked them 100 questions while my friend and her husband took a break. After a quick dinner, we got in our cars to drive the last little bit to Fayetteville together.

Here’s what I cannot get over: God knew and God knew better. He knew that if I lingered, my friends would pull up. He knew that they needed a familiar face when their kids were starting to melt down. He knew that everything was not what it seemed until it came together in the end.

Later on, my friend said to someone at church, “We had another adult to help with the kids and it was like an answer to prayer.”

My mind went back to how sure I was that the answer to prayer would be my interaction with the woman at the counter. I had a whole story all written out, but it turns out, God had another one and I was merely a player in it.

Do you ever feel like you know more than God? Do you ever wish He would take notes from you on how something is supposed to work out?

When I am tempted to believe that I call the shots or that I have wisdom deeper than it actually is, I remember that early spring day in the middle of Oklahoma. I remember that God was trying to get my attention and if I’d ignored Him, I would have missed out.

Scripture says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps” (Proverbs 16:9 NIV). And I suppose I’m forever glad to step where He has me.

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