Our Miracle-Working God

One of the hazards of the human condition is getting so wrapped up in your problems and struggles that you can reason no one else has ever had it this tough for so long.

I confess to feeling that way throughout the first half of this year as I battled my way back from a fall at home that left me with a moderate concussion.

Then, in mid-July I received a prayer request from a member of one of my professional editors’ groups. She wanted members to pray for a woman who was in the midst of what can best be described as a triple whammy.

For starters, the previous week her daughter had fallen down a flight of exterior concrete steps and broken both of her wrists. They weren’t sure if she would need surgery until an appointment with an orthopedist.

The visit was supposed to happen that day, but the email writer wasn’t sure it would. That’s because the woman and her husband had had to grab an emergency flight out west after her son and nephew had been in a severe car accident two nights earlier.

Serious Problems

When they got ready to depart, the only thing the couple knew was both boys were in the intensive care unit. Her son had a broken arm and wrist after the car they were driving rolled over.

If that weren’t enough, her husband had also been out of work for more than a year.

Suddenly, my bouts with tiredness and other occasional frustrations took on a minor hue. Nothing like finding out about someone who has more serious problems to put your own in perspective.

Answered Prayer

Recently, the woman sent an email to members to thank everyone for praying, with a link to a blog she wrote about their experience.

It included the detail that as her son was driving through the desert he veered toward the shoulder and then over-corrected, with the wheels going off the far side of the road. The car flipped.

“The investigator told us it flipped at least three times side over side, then somehow shifted and flipped at least three more times, end over end,” she wrote. “It landed on its side. . . .

“If not for the paramedics and the helicopter pilot, they could have died. If not for the excellent care of the trauma and ICU nurses . . . they could have died. By the grace of God, they both survived.”

I knew exactly what she meant. Although it’s been 23 years since it happened, we too were in an accident where our vehicle rolled three times.

Our car landed upside down. Although my wife broke her wrist and was sore for a while, I walked away with nothing but cuts and bruises.

I was standing by the side of the road, insisting paramedics take off the neck brace the had slapped on me earlier because I didn’t need it. Just then, a guy who saw the accident told me about the car flipping before it came to a stop.

When our daughters saw the wreckage—the salvage yard gave us $50 for the scrap—they couldn’t believe we had survived.

Years later, how good it was to hear of someone else who had been supernaturally protected.

Divine Intervention

I followed up with a personal note to the woman to tell her I had been praying and asked about her husband’s job prospects. He’d had two interviews since they returned and expected to hear about one soon.

Whether he gets that one or not, I’m sure God will provide. He’s good at doing that, whether it’s a job when needed or miraculous protection during an accident.