A SCORPION IN MY CAR!

Our trip to Gujarat this week was truly eventful.

First about the scorpion. The ‘Indian Red Scorpion’ is one of the ten deadliest in the world. If you get bitten the pain is unbearable and drives one mad.

Scorpion venom mainly affects the circulatory and respiratory system. This eventually may cause death. Health Centres in the villages don’t usually keep scorpion antivenom. You then have to go a great distance, and time is of essence. There are some meds that can bring down the fatality rate. But children will be most affected. These species of scorpion venom contains a very complex mixture of proteins. The venom stops the heart, stops the lungs and paralyses main muscular movement.

But I like what the tribals do. They eat the scorpion! Because they believe that the scorpion inside the stomach negates its own venom. I would do that if I were bitten!

When we left for the village the rains were pouring down. The deluge was unstoppable and slowed us down considerably.

My grandson Jayden was with me, Richard, and of course Shreekar my faithful companion in the Lord. We prayed God would keep the roads safe and take us without any incidents on the way. We also asked the Lord to keep His angels around us all the time. Soon we reached the village safe and dry.

After a late lunch I had to visit another village about 40Km from where we were.

Soon we came through very bad roads. Shreekar had difficulty maneuvering the car as it kept slipping and reaching dangerously close to the side of the road. We could have fallen over into a field! Soon the wheels were spinning raking up thick farm mud, and the car stuck to nearly halfway the tyre height.

Richard got off and started pushing the car back. He said, “Daddy, look out there are scorpions here”, (He calls me Daddy). I got off too, and little did I know, my foot was over a nest of scorpions!

After quite a challenging time I managed to pull the car out of the mud and we reached our village, where we washed out the car and cleaned out the mats and our shoes.

But yesterday morning I found a scorpion hiding under the mat on the driver’s side.

I believe there were angels in the car and around us. We had prayed that before we left home. Jayden my grandson was in the back seat and if he were bitten we would never have known what bit him!

Me finding that scorpion was the Lord nudging me to look inside my car once more. I must’ve brought it along with my shoes.

Here’s some lessons we all need to learn.

• Always pray before you go on a journey. This enables God to set Himself and His angels around you.
• Don’t negate the promptings of the Lord in your spirit. They are important signals from heaven to keep you safe always.
• Watch, watch, watch the road ahead. In other words…don’t be short-sighted. Many drivers suffer from ‘bonnet vision’.
• Enjoy what you do.

I love to drive. And can do so alone for hundreds of kilometers. My father taught me some great safety tips because he was the only real roadie I knew growing up. I always keep those things in mind.

Be blessed and be safe. God is at hand!