“And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” (Numbers 14:17-19, ESV)

It was time for me to head back into the city after my grasshopper episode up at the Tiger Leap Gorge.

Mentally, I knew that the Lord was not angry with me. God knows that I am dust.

But I was angry with myself for leaving the Bibles in the dormitory.

The guidebook wrote that there was a bus passing through the mountains, going back to the nearby city eight hours away. This bus comes by three times a week, on the mornings of Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

There was no sign of any bus stop but there was a wooden shack that served as a noodle shop by this narrow quiet country “highway”.

I asked the noodle seller if I was at the correct place but I could not understand his thick accent. I did get a bowl of very spicy Yunnanese noodles, but was confused as his words and his body language were telling me different things.

I finally figured out what he was saying. He explained that I was at the correct place and that there was a bus coming at about 10am. But his body language was discouraging and negative – giving long sighs and shaking his head. The big bus will come but it will be super crowded and I will not be able to get on it. After all, there are only three buses a week.

Indeed I could hear and see the big bus as it chugged its way on the winding road across the valley a long distance away. As clear as the pillar of cloud that lead the children of Israel.

But there was no room for me.

Just before the bus arrived at the noodle stall, an ambulance turned into the cul-de-sac and parked in front of the noddle stall, creating a mini tornado of dust. The two staff from the ambulance sat at the same table with me and we soon got talking.

I asked if I could get a ride on the ambulance. They laughed and told me to go take a look at the ambulance.

I did. Walked around the ambulance – it was made in Russia but looked quite sturdy. Peeped inside and realised the problem. There was a corpse in the ambulance, covered in white sheets and very dead.

I returned to the staff and told them that I am a doctor and was okay to ride in the ambulance even though there is a dead body.

The ambulance chief was helpful. He said that he would speak with the bus driver and try and get me a seat. If not, then I could have a ride in the ambulance.

Do you have a Bible?

The big bus came. A bigger cloud of dust trailed behind the bus.

Passengers came down and divided into two groups. One group hurried to get noodles. The other group, a forlorn looking bunch suffering from motion sickness, went aside to throw up.

The bus driver informed the chief that the bus was full. He pleaded my case and the driver agreed that I could sit on the sack of rice that was in the narrow aisle, in between the two rows of three seats. But I still had to buy a ticket.

I thanked the ambulance crew and was soon on my way – me and my back pack with the leftover rolls of film and the two Bibles – seated on a sack of rice. The bus chugged along up the steep slopes and sharp bends, with clouds of dry dust filling up our bus as the windows could not be closed properly.

There was an elderly man seated on my left. We were shoulder to shoulder in the narrow aisle. We got talking and he soon learnt that I was from Singapore. He kept silent for a while and then spoke to me in English!

I was surprised that a man of his age, one who could hardly speak Mandarin, could speak in English.

He explained that the Flying Tigers (an America volunteer fighter squadron) was based near his village during World War II. He became the helper at the air base as a young boy and thus learnt English.

Village men who treasure their Bibles. Photo by Dr Tan Lai Yong.

After a while, he spoke to me in a softer tone and asked: ”Do you have a Bible?”

I did! I did!

He explained that he had one Bible in his home but gave it to his son who was going to university in the city. He was thrilled to get one.

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children. (Psalm 90:14-17)

My regret and remorse about leaving the two Bibles in the dormitory faded. The burden over my heart was lifted.

Lesson learnt, but I was assured that morning of God’s steadfast love.

So much dust in the bus and even more outside. But He made me glad and showed His work in redeeming my shortcomings and demonstrated His power to this child.

God carries the day.

This series of devotional essays, linked to the book of Numbers and to the prayer that Moses wrote in Psalm 90, recalls times when Dr Tan Lai Yong was “so sure and yet had it wrong; was led so clearly yet I looked the wrong way or crept up the wrong alley”.

Below are more devotionals on God’s guidance by Dr Tan Lai Yong. 

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A God that sees giants as well as grasshoppers: Dr Tan Lai Yong

Who has God given you to be your “eyes” in the wilderness?