Bad Can Save Us From Worse

Hi all! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know I sure did! I'm thankful every day for all God has done for me and blessed me with, especially the ability to gather with family still. Anyway, let's chat!

I have a personal experience story to share that is kind of scary. Maybe scary isn't the right word... awful is a good word too. You would think after such an awful event in my life, that I would remember exactly when it happened. To be honest I forget what year it was. I was probably around 14 years old so maybe 2004-2005? My great-aunt Debbie used to live in Florida. So, usually most summers my Mom, brother, and I would go down to visit for a week or so. My Dad didn't have the extra time off from work so he would unfortunately have to stay home while we went on vacation. I love Florida! I love the sun, the palm trees, the beaches, all of it. I know it's kind of a cliche vacation spot, but I loved going down to visit my aunt and uncle and cousin. At the time, they lived in Lake Wales. Now they're actually back in Ohio. Anywho, it was great to go down to Florida. 

We were on the highway, because my Mom would drive us down there. We couldn't really afford to fly and she didn't like flying too much anyway. I didn't have my seatbelt on, and I was lying backwards asleep in the front seat. My brother also did not have his seatbelt on and was reclined asleep in the backseat. My Mom woke us up and said to put our belts on, because we were almost to the exit we needed to take. A few minutes after I sat up and put my belt on, a work van (with ladders strapped to its roof) got over in front of our SUV. My Mom looked at me and asked "does it look like one of those ladders is loose on the top of that van?" I was still half asleep so I rubbed my eyes and looked at the van. I couldn't tell, but it didn't look like it to me. Not a minute later, sure enough, one of the ladders falls off the van roof and comes flying towards our windshield. My Mom swerves into the slow lane to avoid it hitting us. The wind knocked the ladder down quickly and we ran over it with the front driver side tire. We then are spun sideways, going towards the fast lane across four lanes of traffic. We collided with a white sedan of some sort, and were sent rolling down a huge median that felt like a mountain. We, by the grace of God, landed upright. Sitting in pure shock, we try to process what just happened. I looked down at my left knee and it was gushing blood. I looked at my Mom, her head was bleeding. I looked back at my brother, he looked ok as far as I could tell. I can't really remember what happened in the time we were waiting for an ambulance to come, other than the fact we got out of the car. When the ambulance got there, they told us to sit down in the grass. Well the only grass around was really tall, weed-like grass. All of a sudden I felt a burning and stinging all over my body. When we rolled down this median, we went straight through fire ant hills. So not only are we in shock and bleeding and hurting, we're now being stung by all these fire ants. They were inside my knee wound. They were in my Mom's eyes. They covered my brother... they were everywhere! We were finally able to get in the squad and head to a hospital. We were treated and sent home. Well, to my aunt's house.

Long story short, I had to get staples in my knee. I was losing too much blood too quickly for them to give me stitches. (I had to get the staples without any type of anesthesia so that was fun) My Mom was really bruised and had a contusion on her arm. Almost broke her arm, actually. My brother had bruising and bites. And, of course, we all had cuts from glass. The next day I happened to be watching the news and saw that another wreck had happened moments after ours, on the same highway, where no one survived the crash. NO ONE SURVIVED FROM THAT WRECK. And that brings me to the title of today's blog. Sometimes bad things can save us from worse things. Imagine if we were in the wreck that was just up the road, we probably wouldn't be alive today! It still gives me chills just thinking about it! This is where the spiritual application comes in.

We can't predict our future. We can't see it. We have no idea, to a degree, what each day will hold. But friend, God knows. God sees it all. He holds our yesterdays, todays, and tomorrows in His hands. Sometimes bad things might happen in our lives, to save us from something worse. I know that's hard to comprehend or be happy about, but we should be thankful that God saves us in this way! By His mercy and grace, we are given a new day. His breath is in our lungs. If hard times come upon us, we should have peace in knowing that He is still with us even when it doesn't feel like it. "The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you, He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." (Deut 31:8) Now I'm not saying that every hard thing we walk through is an 'easy out' for something harder that might come along. Sometimes life is just hard. However, I do believe that some bad stuff can save us from worse stuff. Have you ever prayed for something and the answer was "no" and then looking back you think "man I'm glad I didn't get a 'yes' for that prayer." I've had that happen a lot, actually. We might be discouraged in the moment, but again God sees our futures. He knows what's best and that's when we have to trust Him and have faith that He will still work all things out! (Rom 8:28) Let's pray:

Father God, as always I thank You for another day of life. It might be a hard life, but we are breathing and for that I am thankful. As Your Word says in Romans 8:28, thank You for working all things out for the good of those who love You. Thank You for being with us always, for Your protection and provision. Thank You God that me and my Mom and brother are still alive! Thank You for saving us from the horrible accident we were in so many years ago. Thank you God for answers to prayers, even if it's a "no." You hold us all together. You have good planned for our lives. Help us to feel Your Presence and walk according to Your will. I thank you also for all the friends who take the time to read my posts! May I be encouraging to at least one person. Bless each one of them Lord, and thank You for all You do for us all. In Jesus Name I pray, amen!