Psalms 91:9-11 “If you make the Most High your dwelling – even the Lord, who is my refuge – then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways”  

Psalm 91:9-11

Getting to school in the 80s in Malaysia was a lot of fun. If you took a bus, you had two options: private or public buses. If you had a private bus option, you probably took the ubiquitous “yellow colored uncle or auntie” school bus. Alternatively, if it’s the public bus option, one could take the famous “Sri Jaya (S.J.) Kenderaan Sdn Bhd” branded buses (see picture).

Mind you, air-conditioned buses were rare whilst growing up! Bus shelters were generally nonexistent in the neighborhoods. Back then, bus stops in the neighborhood were pretty much a vaguely marked pole with a metal bus flag stuck in the dirt. There were hardly any places where you can sit down to rest because there were no seats except for a patch of dirt on the side of the road! To board a bus, you essentially had to flag a bus down by waving your hands frantically at the looming bus that’s approaching you. One would hope that the bus driver catches your attention and stops the bus. 

One afternoon, I had to travel from home to my High School or what we Malaysians called Secondary School. Here I was waiting for a Sri Jaya bus (route #252). I saw the bus looming towards me as it chugged down the main road. After waving my hands at the bus driver, I saw the bus started to slow down. I quickly ran towards the approaching bus, struggling with my heavy school bag pack that was straining and hanging off my shoulders. As the bus slowed down to a walking pace, I hopped up clumsily onto the rear entrance of the bus with one foot. I literally ‘jumped’ onto the bus, whilst my other foot hung off the bus.

The bus then started accelerating. I doubt the bus driver could tell if I had boarded the bus or not as I was semi-hidden by the rear door. He assumed I had boarded the bus. Furthermore, I had to climb up 3 or 4 steep steps in order to be fully visible. I was just on step one. One foot was on the bus, and the other foot was off the bus.

I started falling backwards as the bus picked up speed. I wasn’t holding onto the rails. In that split second, I knew I was going to fall off the bus. My life flashed before me in that moment. 

To my amazement, I felt a strong hand holding my back that prevented me from falling off the bus. That invisible hand steadied me for the split second until I could grab one of the handles and drag myself up the bus. 

Panting, and with my heart racing at 100kms/hour, I sat down and recalled what happened. I didn’t fall off the bus and hurt myself! In that moment, I experienced God’s protection. This was an experience where I had no time for prayers to ask God for help, but the God who is real saw and sent help from on high.