It was 2 a.m. and I was in the middle of almost-pitch-black darkness. There was a thin sliver of moon casting a bit of light around me.
I was all alone, on top of a camel. I was seated maybe 10 feet above the ground.
My camel and I were on our way up Mt. Sinai, in Egypt. This probably sounds like an exotic, exciting, enigmatic adventure. It is not. It was one of the scariest moments of my life.
Earlier, I was with my friends who were riding camels, too. But my guide (who was supposed to walk beside me and my camel all the way up to the camel station) suddenly left to tend to his other camel – and never came back. Horrors.
He probably thought I was safe with my group since each of us had a guide walking alongside us. Still, there was absolutely no excuse for what he did.
I secretly wished (for about five seconds) that a million fleas would infest every nook and cranny of his body.
To make matters worse, my camel walked straight ahead, very fast. So he soon left our group behind… way behind. There was no
stopping this camel. I tugged at the reins, hoping he’d stop. But he was oblivious to anything I did or said. Soon, I was all alone.
So I cried out – screamed, actually, in sheer panic – to tell my friends “hey!!! I’m here!!!
Up ahead of you!!!” But apparently, no one heard because no one answered. It was just me and this… this… camel. In pitch-black darkness. It was so quiet. All I could hear was my breathing, the camel’s breathing, and the steady crunch of the camel’s footsteps.
After some time, I started thinking happy thoughts like – what if this stupid camel went somewhere else? To drink or eat or pee or something? Were there Bedouins here who were cruel to foreigners? What if I fell off this camel and broke my leg or something? Surely, the group I was with would pass this way and find me in excruciating pain. My gosh. Where in the world was the nearest hospital to Mt. Sinai?!!! Ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
Clearly, I was calm and optimistic.
After ruminating some more with my “happy thoughts,” I then proceeded to get very annoyed, then angry, at God. I asked Him if He was enjoying this little scenario I was in.
Was this a surprise quiz or something? To test my faith in Him? Or to teach me a life lesson, which also happened to be an object lesson? The object being this camel… this camel which I had absolutely grown to abhor?
Mercifully, it dawned on me (soon enough) that getting angry with God was useless, counter-productive, pathetic. Because – well, who could ever win an argument with God?
Who could ever win against God at anything?!!
So I finally came to my senses and prayed. I asked Him to please rescue me, and get me out of this alive, unscathed, sane.
That’s when I suddenly heard the alarming sound of stones or pebbles falling right below me, to my right! By this time, there was a lot of moonlight already so I could see my surroundings pretty well.
Imagine my shock. My utter horror, when I saw that to the right of me was some sort of cliff or deep embankment! And the hooves (the feet) of my camel were treading ever so dangerously close to the edge of the cliff that the soil and pebbles were already falling down!
In short, my camel was a daredevil. The road was sooo wide to my left but this camel (for some unnerving reason) chose to walk on the dangerous side – nearest the cliff!!! I cannot understand to this day why this camel did that.
So I frantically prayed: “Dear Jesus, I’m so so sorry for ranting against You. Please, please let this camel move to the left, to the left, Lord… to the left – away from the cliff!!! If You do this, I promise I won’t be scared anymore because I’ll know You’re right here with me, protecting me!”
And guess what? That camel, my camel, veered to the left immediately!!! Immediately.
After I prayed.
And the camel stayed on the safe side of the road all the way to the camel station! I don’t think I’ve ever said “Hallelujah” with such fervor and feeling!
So, for the rest of my camel ride (which took maybe two hours), I was calm. I wasn’t scared anymore. I was singing songs of praise to God. I was praying for all the people He brought to mind.
I didn’t mind being alone, riding a camel in a strange country, in the dark. I was suddenly brave.
Soon after, I was reunited with our friends and my husband (who wanted to hike all the way up). From the camel station, we walked up around 700 rough, rocky steps to the top of Mt. Sinai – to catch the glorious sunrise… and to sing our hearts out, in praise to God.
In retrospect, that camel ride was the highlight of that trip for me. God’s “Alone Time” with me. He knew I was going to be very, very distracted during the rest of our Holy Land Tour.
It was the camel ride that made me get rid of most of my fears. I didn’t realize, until then, that I had so many fears in my life. Unnecessary and crippling fears.
God hammered this truth into me while I was scared, alone in the dark, on top of a daredevil camel: I have nothing, absolutely nothing to fear… because Jesus is always with me.
That camel ride is all that I need to remember whenever I’m afraid.
Isn’t God amazing?
