The landing strips and hangers were enshrouded in darkness as the student pilots in their two-cockpit naval trainer planes practiced taking off and landing under simulated wartime conditions. With no landing lights either, they were only guided by the voice of the Lieutenant telling them by radio if they were aimed at the landing strip and how far off the ground they were. If it appeared they were going to overshoot the field there would come the concerned shout in their earphones, “Pull up, pull up,” and they would then circle around and try a new approach. On this kind of operation the radio was an absolute necessity.

Suddenly, as I sat in the darkness in the Radio Shack awaiting any emergency, I received a call from the Lieutenant to go check the radio of one of our planes that had not taken off as yet. As I looked out over the air field I could see through the darkness the faint outline of a plane and set out running in that direction.

The planes were always parked facing the hanger and during the day, as I serviced the radios I would run toward the plane, hit the wheel cover with one foot and the edge of the wing with the other and land right opposite the cockpit where I could just lean in and test the radio. My long legs made this an easy way to get my job done quickly rather than go around the wing and climb up the back side of it.

Seeing the dim outline of the wing and wheel hub I directed my steps toward my customary approach, when suddenly, for no apparent reason, I stopped. I could feel the breeze in my face from the revolving propeller blades only inches away. Taking one more step my head would have been sliced into pieces by those heavy steel blades. I could not see them, and with the roar of the other planes taking off and landing I was totally unaware of the fact that the pilot had started his engines before testing his radio.

I was a new Christian, only saved a few months, and right then I knew God had a special reason for stopping me in my tracks. As a result, after my discharge I had no problem changing my college major from engineering to Bible and preparing for whatever way God wanted me to serve Him.

At Sinai the Israelites trembled as the thunder and lightning rolled down the sides of the mountain. God’s purpose was to prepare them to trust Him with complete obedience as they prepared to enter the promised land of Canaan.