By Tanya Jolliffe
My husband was in a car accident recently. He wasn’t hurt, but we have had to deal with all the details of filing the report, getting a rental car, and talking with the insurance company. While none of those things are fun, it has been interesting to see Romans 8:28 (ESV) come to life. This passage reads, “And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
My husband was excited to leave work on time, hoping he would get ahead of the highway traffic. It didn’t take long for that great mood to wither as he noted a large backup just a few minutes down the road. A lady pulled out right in front of him as he reached a break that allowed him to pick up speed. As he was traveling 55 mph, he had no room to maneuver and avoid a collision. He and the lady he hit crept to the side of the road, antifreeze leaking from both vehicles with car parts strewn across the highway. He thought it was strange that two other cars were pulling over behind him, but he thought perhaps they were just being Good Samaritans and stopping to serve as witnesses.
As he was just about to stop on the shoulder, he noticed the lady and her bumper-less car continuing to creep forward, leaving a path of antifreeze behind. He wondered if she was trying to drive away. A true Good Samaritan quickly veered off, parked in front of her, and blocked her way. That’s when I got the phone call saying he had been in an accident, he was fine, but he could be a while because it looked like there was a lot of reporting to be done with the police.
Psalm 121:7-8 (ESV) states, “The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” We don’t know this woman’s faith journey, but it is undoubtedly possible God desired to use my husband and others to hold her accountable for her actions to keep her from further evil. The report provided to the police by the two drivers that pulled up behind my husband stated that the woman had rear-ended one of their cars. That car created another accident by being pushed into the back of the vehicle in front of it, which was driven by the other person that stopped. The lady swerved into my husband’s lane to escape that incident but created a more significant accident instead. The driver that pulled off in front of the lady hadn’t witnessed the first two accidents but was a witness to my husband’s accident. They stopped to serve as a witness and to stop the potential evasion. With so many people offering their testimony and eyewitness accounts, it didn’t take long for the lady to confess that she was driving without insurance.
I’m sure she panicked after the first accident, knowing she was driving uninsured. In her panic, she may have decided to run away from the problem instead of facing it head-on. Unfortunately, that decision increased her issues instead of solving them. Life can be like that. Sometimes when we don’t deal with our problems, they develop and multiply into bigger ones. 1 Peter 2:24 (ESV) states, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed.”
Even when we make mistakes, there is grace because the price for our sins has already been paid. Isaiah 41:10(ESV) says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you; I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Psalm 37:24 (ESV) says, “Though he falls, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.”
I hope this woman knows these vital truths and has people in her life to speak the gospel to her while facing the consequences of her decisions. Perhaps she will be able to see that God provided a situation to turn all things for her good.
As for my me and my husband, we will rely on James 1:2 (ESV), “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,” as we thank God for his hedge of protection as well as the means, time, and ability to deal with the headache of the situation.
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