A Good Samaritan

“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.” Luke 10:33

“C’mon, c’mon…hurry, hurry!” I muttered under my breath as I anxiously watched my dash display. It was registering the decreasing air pressure in my front tire on the passenger’s side, and it was deflating rapidly. I knew I needed to get into the right lane and get off the Interstate in a hurry, or we were going to end up on the side of the road with a flat tire. But we were boxed in by 18-wheelers. “Help, Lord.”

Shelley and I had been running our Friday errands in Marion, about 30 miles from home. Mid-day traffic seemed much heavier with big rigs than normal, but it was flowing about 70 miles in the left lane. Suddenly, we heard a loud thud and it sounded as though some type of metal piece had hit the underside of our car. Simultaneously, we looked at each other and said, “What was that?” Then the dash display lit up, flashing the warning sign, and counting down the estimated drive time we had left before our tire was completely flat. I knew I had to take the next exit and get off that dangerous Interstate, but it seemed like an eternity before I could wedge in between two 18-wheeler trucks in the right lane. With horror, I realized the trucker in front of me was traveling less than 55 miles per hour, and we had two miles to the exit. I watched the gauge register ticking down from two minutes of drive time rather rapidly toward zero, and I prayed fervently.

Amazingly, the Lord got us to the exit, but no sooner had I made an immediate turn into the parking lot of a service station than the tire began flapping and thudding against the concrete. It was completely flat, but we were safe from all those big trucks barreling down the Interstate. Shelley and I exhaled a sigh of relief, praising the Lord for His protection.

Exiting our vehicle to assess the situation, I realized we were about 80 yards away from the station’s air compressor, but I wasn’t sure it was worth driving on the rim that distance. Most likely, my tire would not hold air. It was miserably hot, so we left the doors ajar, then I opened the hatch looking for the spare tire in my wife’s vehicle. Where was it hiding?

The call we made for roadside assistance took a frustrating eight minutes to get through all the virtual voice commands, only to learn it would be an hour-and-a-half before help arrived.

A gentle giant of a muscular man approached our vehicle, with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. He looked at the tire, then said, “Looks like y’all could use some help! I think I have everything we need to get you back on the road,” he said, pointing to his truck that had a sign that read “Heavy Duty Truck Repair (24-hour emergency services).” I couldn’t believe how God had provided for us. This kind young man was between service calls and had stopped at the station to grab a bite of lunch. Thank You, Jesus!

He pulled his service vehicle over to our car and started his air compressor. I commented on the tattoo on the inside of his left arm. In big letters it read, “Proverbs 27:17, Iron sharpens iron.”

“I see you believe in God. I do, too,” I said gratefully, “I know He is our Savior and our strength.”

“Amen,” he responded, as he unrolled his hose and connected it to the stem. The tire wouldn’t hold air, so he had me slowly roll the car forward, and found the problem.  “I think you ran over a bolt. You have a rather large hole in your tire, but I’ve got just the thing to fix it. I bought a supply of heavy duty plugs this morning.”

He walked to a compartment on the side of his rig, unwrapped the plug and inserted it into our tire. He aired the tire up, and checked it out. No leaks—thank you, Jesus!

“How long will this plug hold?” I asked. “We live about 20 miles away.”

“Well, if it’ll get a big rig down the highway, it will get you home. Just get this tire fixed today. In fact, you should go immediately to the tire service you use in your hometown.”

“Perfect. That’s what we’ll do. How much do I owe you?”

“Not one cent, it was my gift and privilege to help you. I stopped to get a sandwich—I had a little time, and you had a need. I would like to think that if my parents found themselves in a similar situation, someone would assist them.” 

Shelley hollered from inside our car, “We appreciate you so much. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You are a good Samaritan!”

The service station where we’d stopped that day was bustling. A lot of people passed by our obviously stranded vehicle without giving us a second glance. People’s lives are busy. Many won’t allow their schedules to be interrupted. Many just don’t sympathize with others who are experiencing trouble, and overlook senior citizens with a perplexing problem. No one else offered to help this old, gray-haired man. But a tattooed stranger took pity on us out of the goodness God had put in his heart, just like the parable Jesus told in Luke 10:30–37 of a Samaritan man who helped a stranded and wounded Jewish traveler that others had walked past with no compassion. The Good Samaritan not only assisted him in his immediate need, but he also paid for the expenses to care for him.

What was Jesus’ advice? “Go and do likewise.”

Paul echoes that advice. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:9–10 (NIV).

I believe God will bless my Good Samaritan who took pity on us that day. There is a biblical principle called the Law of Reciprocity. “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38.

May we all live our lives as Good Samaritans.