Life is precious. Once in a while we get a glimpse of that. You may have seen it if you're a parent who remembers holding their child for the first time. Or maybe you know someone who has a disease that is affecting them and you think about how their time seems unfairly cut short. In any case, I think that many people have had a fleeting glance at what life is, and how precious it is.
Today I had a close encounter. I was in the car with my two brothers. We were out on a country road and Rob, the youngest, was driving. I was in the front passenger seat and Stu, my older brother, was laying on the back bench, as he often does. We had just pulled up to a stop sign. My brother saw a car coming and thought that he should cross the road quickly before the other car. So he pulls out, and from what I remember, there was a dull thud, tires squealing, all of us shouting, and glass breaking. We were hit by another vehicle in the back left corner of the car. The other vehicle was probably going about 55 miles and hour.
I praise God because I realize, as a friend told me, it could have been a lot worse. I'll probably have a few bruises, but nothing serious. Rob was fine. Stu had a cut above his eye and, apparently a fractured bone in his nose, but other than that he was also all right. God's hand of protection was holding us.
The other party, a middle-aged woman, was, of course, scared by what happened. From what I saw, it sounds like she may have broken or hurt her leg, as well as possibly hurting her arm. My instincts told me to go and ask if she was all right, but I was afraid. Maybe I was afraid that she would vent on me. In any case, though, I think my brother checked on her, and she seemed to be all right, as she was.
Besides the miracle of no serious injuries, a man happened upon us just after leaving from his job at a hospital. He got involved right away. Seeing as Robert and I were all right, he attended to Stu, making sure he was conscious and that there were no serious injuries.
I give God all the glory. Seeing that I could be dead right now shows me two things; A. God cares for my well-being, as well as yours. B. God still has a plan for my life. What my mind kept going to while waiting during the assessment and treatment of Stu was "What does God want me to take away from this?"
I know, often, that mankind has a constant complaint against God, saying that He should stop all bad things from happening. I have a few responses to this; First, God has given us sovereign will. What does that mean? That means that he has given us the ability to make choices. While it may be true that not all of our choices will change what may or may not happen to us, we are given the privilege, and thus the responsibility, to make the best choices we can.
The second is that God often uses our circumstances to test us and teach us. He wants to see whether we will give Him all the glory when we have the opportunity to turn away from Him. He will bless you for steadfastness, though we may not see those blessings here and now. We just have to keep trusting Him. When we don't know what He's doing, He may want us to trust and follow Him, even when everyone tell you not to.
Again, I give all the glory for the miracles that he has worked in my life. I pray that you can find encouragement and comfort here. I pray that comfort will come. Sometimes, in the storms of this life, when we look around asking "Where are you, God?" I think that we don't see that He is holding us in the palm of His hand.
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