The whirls of hot air outside the car licked up spirals of red dust off the sizzling bitumen road stretched out before us. Even with the air-con blasting in the 4×4, it was a sweltering 41 degrees! We had been driving for the past three hours and still had about an hour-and-a-half before we would reach our destination . . . and we were in trouble! We were just two girls all alone in the middle of the Northern Territory with no water, no reception and slowly running out of fuel!
For the past few days we had been filming across the Northern Territory for work, passing through croc-infested rivers and fending off all manners of critters while camping in the humid heatwave which had rolled in just as we had landed. Without any internet or phone service, we had somewhat miraculously navigated across the outback of Litchfield National Park.
But that morning, nothing was going to plan. We had a strict itinerary to stick to if we wanted to reach our next destination in time. The itinerary required our crew to wake up, film interviews, pack up camp and hit the road all before 7:30am to make it to Cooinda by noon to pick up our filming permit for Kakadu National Park. Without this filming permit, all the plans we had made for the following two days of filming would not be possible. But as 7:30am came and went, we soon realised that our day was about to turn into a shambles.
After a quick discussion, we realised that there was no way we could rearrange the time to pick up the film permit unless we made it to a location with reception before noon. Our crew still had a lot of filming left to complete before leaving the location, and so it was decided the team would split up, with Sharline and I going ahead to sort out the permit issues.
Driving from Sandy Creek Campground to Batchelor in a flurry, we finally reached a spot with reception where we could make phone calls and send emails. After about half-an-hour of panic, we managed to reorganise a time to pick up our film permit. Everything was sorted, and we were ready to hit the road again. Or so we thought.
Driving on from Batchelor, we quickly realised just how big Australia is. For two hours straight we hadn’t passed a single town, turnoff or even a petrol station. And after two hours of driving, we were highly conscious of the fuel gauge steadily creeping towards empty. We still had over 120km to go before we would reach Cooinda when the fuel light came on. Anxious and afraid, I did some quick calculations and realised there was no way we were going to make it to our destination unless a petrol station appeared soon!
Just a few moments later, we finally spotted a petrol station! Turning off the road towards the petrol station, relief swept over us and our racing hearts started to slow down. . . Until they stopped altogether.
With cold dread I read the notice: “DO NOT STOP—PETROL STATION OUT OF ORDER”. As we approached with caution, we noticed petrol hoses strewn across the ground and windows smashed in. We did as the notice told us and kept on driving!
As we turned back onto the main road, I turned to Sharline in the passenger seat beside me and told her that we needed to start praying. That was our only hope of making it to Cooinda. We turned the air conditioning off to reduce fuel usage and wound down the windows knowing the hot air wouldn’t do much to cool us down. The next hour and 15 minutes passed in deathly silence (except pointing out a dingo) as both of us prayed for a miracle.
As I drove, three Bible stories came to mind, like a trusted friend gently whispering words of reassurance.
The first was the story of the widow of Zarephath. In a season of drought, the prophet Elijah visited a widow from Zarephath and asked if she could spare him a little water and a little bread. In distress she told the prophet that she did not have enough flour or oil to feed herself and her son, let alone him as well. But Elijah told her to not be afraid, but instead to do as she had planned and make bread for herself and her son, first making a small loaf for him. “For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land’” (1 Kings 17:14). In obedience, the widow did exactly this, and in accordance with the word of the Lord, the flour and the oil did not run out. Praying that God would treat the petrol in our car like the flour and oil from the stores of the widow of Zarephath, I drove on in faith.
The second story which came to mind was that of Peter walking on the water. The disciples were crossing a lake in the middle of a storm while Jesus remained behind on the shore. Suddenly, the disciples saw a figure coming towards them, walking on the water. They were terrified! Thinking it was a ghost, they began to scream in fear. But Jesus called out to them not to be afraid and that it was Him. Peter courageously asked to come to Jesus on the waves, and stepping out of the boat he began to walk on water. So long as Peter’s eyes were fixed on Jesus, he walked on water. But as soon as he looked around him at the howling wind and the threatening waves, Peter began to sink (Matthew 14:22–33). Along that hot and dusty road, threatening us with a different kind of terror, my prayers stopped focusing on the problem before me but only on Jesus being able to save us. I refused to look at the fuel gauge for the remainder of our drive, trusting that God would get us to our destination.
The third story which popped into my head was that of Jehoshaphat and the Israelites marching into battle. In this story, all the nations surrounding Israel had come to wage war on them, with a vast army assembling close by. Immediately upon hearing this alarming news, King Jehoshaphat took the matter to God in prayer with all of Israel praying with him. The Spirit of God came to the Levite Jahaziel who told Israel, “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s” (2 Chronicles 20:15). As Israel went out the very next day to fight their enemies, King Jehoshaphat organised for men to sing praises to God, walking ahead of the army and giving thanks for the victory they had not yet won. God caused the enemies’ armies to fight amongst themselves and annihilate each other, so Israel did not need to fight (2 Chronicles 20:15-24). As this story echoed through my mind, it gave me assurance that this problem was not mine to fret over, but a problem I could safely surrender to God with praise and thanksgiving.
The hour and fifteen minutes passed without a single petrol station. We managed to drive 110km on an empty tank, making it to Cooinda petrol station with our fuel gauge well below empty.
No words can truly capture the rush and wonderment Sharline and I experienced when we pulled into that petrol station, knowing that we had just experienced a miracle. There was no earthly way possible that our fuel could have got us to our destination, not even on the reserve tank. It felt like we were walking on air and filled with passion and fire from the Holy Spirit to tell everyone at the petrol station what we had just experienced!
When our colleagues caught up with us a few hours later, they said we had been driving on fumes! But I like to think that we were driving on prayers.
Olivia Fairfax is a production assistant at Adventist Media.
