Car Wrecks and God’s Care
I received quite the birthday present from God this year.
My husband was in a car wreck on the way to speak at a church, and was taken by ambulance to the hospital where he was checked out because his chest hurt. A lot. (Airbags hit your chest at 200 mph!) No broken bones, just a scratch on the forehead, a lot of soreness, and a residual (but slowly subsiding) sense of fragility.
When I walked into the exam room, Ray murmured wryly, “Happy Birthday.”
And it was, because my beloved husband was all right. God protected him from serious harm, and I am so thankful! That was a wonderful gift to me.
This was the second time I was called to the ER. Several years ago, Ray was “T-boned” on the driver’s side by a car speeding through a red light. He received a concussion and nine months of soreness, but again nothing broken, no internal injuries. He still has no memory of being hit (or even being extracted from his totaled car or taken to the hospital by the paramedics).
There was a big “no accident” to the timing and location of that first wreck. He was hit three blocks from home, just a couple of months before our older son started basic training in the Air Force. My mama’s heart was of course concerned about what could happen to our son in the military during a war. I got the message loud and clear: “Ray wasn’t safe from danger three blocks from home, and I protected him. You can trust Me to protect Curt no matter where he is or what he’s doing.”
The Lord knew that both of Ray’s accidents were going to happen. Months before, I had been invited to speak at women’s retreat in Germany. I was excited about the invitation, but as I prayed about it, God gave me a resounding “NO!” in my spirit. I had no idea why He wouldn’t let me go, but obediently, regretfully declined. When Ray had his wreck three days before I would have been scheduled to fly to Europe, I was so grateful for God’s goodness in the timing. I was grateful for the “no.”
For years, I have been hanging into what is probably the most important truth I have ever learned in my life: a loving God is in control. This year, for my birthday, God gave me the gift of saying, “Yes, I am, and let me show you once again how true that is.”
Sue Bohlin
Sue Bohlin is a speaker/writer and webmistress for Probe Ministries, a Christian organization that helps people to think biblically. She loves teaching women and laughing, and if those two can be combined, all the better. She also loves speaking for MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) and Stonecroft Ministries (Christian Women's Clubs) on the topic How to Handle the Things You Hate But Can't Change, based on her lifelong experience as a polio survivor. She has a freelance calligraphy business in her home studio; hand lettering was her "Proverbs 31 job" while her children were young. Sue also serves on the board of Living Hope Ministries, a Christ-centered organization that helps people struggling with unwanted homosexuality and the family members of those with same-sex attractions. Sue never met a cruise ship she didn't like, especially now that God has provided a travel scooter for getting around any ship! She is happily married to Dr. Ray Bohlin, writer and speaker on faith and science with Probe Ministries, and they have two grown sons. You can follow Sue on Twitter @suebohlin.
10 Comments
Marsha
God’s love for us
I disagree that God is in control, otherwise he would never allow any of us to get hurt, but he will do anything in his power to keep us out of the soup, if we but listen to his still small voice.
I was glad to read how your story panned out, at first I thought you were saying that God wanted your husband to be in the car wreck as a lot of Christians believe that way. But you were showing God’s encouragement for you to stay.
Isn’t God’s goodness awesome?
God Bless
I’m affiliated with: http://www.cffm.org
Sue Bohlin
God’s control and our pain
Marsha, I would respectfully disagree that God is not in control when we get hurt. The underlying misbelief that results in that position is that the ultimate value is prevention of pain . . . and it isn’t. Our holiness and Christlikeness, resulting in glory to God, is the ultimate value, and sometimes (often!) God allows pain as His instrument to achieve that.
No one experienced as much pain or suffering as the Lord Jesus on the cross, and that was a staggering display of God’s control over evil and sin. It was the Father’s will, and it was fully under His control.
Thanks for sharing.
Pat Busch
The Providence of God
Sue,
I absolutely agree that our God is intricately involved in our lives and does inflict pain for his purposes, as with Job and others. God does all he does for His own glory and our eternal good.
Sue Bohlin
Providence and Pain
Hi Pat! Thank you for your comment. . . I am so grateful that the pain God inflicts is not that of a sadist, but of a loving Father who has a plan for every bit of our pain, and does not splash it indiscriminately into our lives.
Nancy Nelson
birthday wishes
How sweet it is that God is in control and not us! Happy, happy birthday.
Sue Bohlin
God is in control
Thank you, sweet Nancy! You are one of the saints who has put all her eggs in the "A loving God is in control" basket, and I honor you for that!
Iliana
Yes, God is in control even
Yes, God is in control even when we don’t like the answers He gives us and we don’t get what we want. He is so loving and caring and will take care of our every single detailed need. Thanks for sharing!
Sue Bohlin
When we don’t get what we want
Hi Iliana! You are so right. . . how often do we not like His answers or what appears to be His withholding on us so we don’t get what we want? But we can trust Him, because we’re the ones with the severely limited vision.
Blessings to you!
Tonneau Cover
Agreed
There is no cause to argue about “the loving god is in control”. I would like to reply to some of the friends who do not agree that god is in control just because he won’t save us from accidents. My dear friends, whatever you do comes around to you in different manners. God is seeing all this from the kingdom of Heaven and we don’t need to say about these he knows the life over here because he’s been here. Like Sue Bohlin’s testimony about his husband’s car accidents tells us more about it. Good things happens to good people. So, serve and get served.
Sue Bohlin
God’s Kingdom perspective
Hi Tonneau,
Thanks for your affirmation! The longer I live, and the more I see God maintain His faithfulness to us, the easier it is to trust Him with what I don’t understand because I keep learning how very little I can actually see of reality. . . when He sees it all.