A Savior Amid The Cornstalks

A Savior Amid The Cornstalks

He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. Psalm 40:2

I was ten weeks into a twelve-week summer job selling the Volume Library door-to-door in southern Illinois. As I drove past towering cornfields, I rehearsed my next house call, where I hoped to find an eager buyer. Instead of paying attention to the road, I was studying the map and my notes on the passenger seat.

Then it was too late.

An eighteen-wheeler sideswiped my Volkswagen Beetle, tossing my Bug up and onto the grille of the truck, where I became a hood ornament. When the semi finally came to a stop a hundred yards from where we first made contact and once my brain stopped swimming, I looked up to see the truck driver staring at me, white as a ghost.

He jumped out, ran toward me, and managed to pry open my crumpled door, using some kind of superhuman strength.

“Son, I didn’t see you. Are you all right?”

His words echoed in my head until I understood what he was asking. “I think so,” I said. I felt a little woozy, but otherwise I was fine. A tear rolled down my cheek as I realized I had just been spared a tragic death.

“I’ll go get help,” the driver said as he staggered back to his rig.

By the time he got back, my mind and heart had settled a bit. Though at the time I professed to be an atheist, somewhere inside I knew that God was the one who had spared my life. He alone knew my past and where my heart was at that moment. Instead of allowing me to die, alone and apart from him, he picked me up and set me back on solid ground. Three years later, when he revealed himself to me in a dream, I was ready to turn back to him.

Today, I look back at the accident and my second chance, and I thank God for being there and caring for me, even when I didn’t care to know him. I believe he saved me that day to give me time to come back to him.

TODAY’S RX

God can change the direction of your life at any given moment—but it’s less painful if you turn to him first.

God, help me to realize day in and day out how you intervene in my life to keep me from harm’s way. May I have a thankful heart, knowing that you are my protector.