“Trust in
the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall
direct your
paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
This scripture became my lifeline in June 2010. We had just finished up the first night of a
weeklong vacation bible school on June 21.
As my daughter Maddie and I were leaving the church, my phone started
ringing. Two different people called me in
a row to ask if my son, Cody, was ok because they had heard that a truck like
his was involved in an accident. Praying
that they were mistaken, I began to frantically call Cody’s phone. There was no
answer, but within a few seconds, I got a third call that no mother EVER wants
to receive…it was the Emergency Room nurse telling me that my son and his
girlfriend had indeed been in an accident.
When we arrived at the hospital, we had no idea what we were going to be
facing. Miraculously, Cody’s injuries
were minor…his ear was cut, he had glass in his skin, his shoulder was
separated and he had a slight concussion...but besides the bruises and cuts, he
had no internal injuries. His girlfriend (now his wife), Rebekah, was in much
worse condition. Her collarbone was
broken, she was bruised and banged up and she had internal injuries that
required emergency surgery which left her in the hospital for over a week and
with many weeks of home recovery time.
When something like this happens, there are two responses that one can
have. You can either trust God and lean
on him to carry you through, or you can worry yourself sick and fall apart. I wavered between the two for the first few
days. Besides the injury aspect of an
accident like this, there were so many other issues to deal with involving the
driver that caused the accident, auto insurance, medical insurance, medical
bills, attorneys, loss of pay and so many other things that I can’t even recall
right now…it was incredibly overwhelming. I remember sitting at my desk one day feeling
like I was drowning in a sea of unanswered questions. I didn’t know what to do or where to turn because
I had never had to deal with anything like this before. I felt so lost. Then parts of the scripture in Proverbs began
to flood my mind, “lean not on your own
understanding…He shall direct your path.”
I had been praying throughout everything, but I had also been worried
sick about everything. At that moment, I
decided to trust that God had Cody and Rebekah’s best interests in mind and
that He knew exactly what He was doing. I decided to trust Him with ALL MY
HEART and stop worrying about things that I had no control over. I felt a
weight lift off of me. I didn’t have to
know all of the answers, I just had to trust in the ONE that did and take one
day at a time.
I remember telling the kids (after
I saw Cody’s truck and how mangled it was and had received all of the scary details
of the crash) that God must have something BIG planned for their future because
He protected them and kept them here for a reason. It is now six years later, and I have been
able to see how much God is using these two for His kingdom. They are both active in their church, serving
and ministering in many different ways. They have a wonderful life together and
they both are a blessing to anyone that they meet.
June 21 is a day to be
celebrated in our family, because satan tried to wreck all of us that day. You see…it is always his intention to “steal,
kill and destroy” according to John 10:10. But what the enemy meant for harm, God used
for good to draw us all closer to Him and to each other. I know there are many
families in our area right now that are going through rough times and are
drowning in that same sea of the unknown.
I urge you to take this scripture and write it on the tablet of your
heart. When you feel lost and confused,
say it over and over again. Trust Jesus
with your whole heart and let His peace and comfort carry you through.
