By Melody Vanosdol
God is always faithful. I’m still working on it.
I’ve had people remark to me about my strong faith in God. I can’t imagine not trusting Him with everything. Big or small, He knows my every need. And He meets my every need, often lavishly.
I was baptized into Christ at age 14. A few short years later, I allowed the thorns of hypocrisy in the church to choke out my faith. I became prodigal and strayed from going to church for 15 years. I shudder to think back and realize how easy it was to make one of His little ones stumble.
I never stopped believing in God. I did, however, doubt every single thing people had said about Him. I can remember saying to someone, “The Bible is just a book written by men.”
Fast forward 15 years. I was living with my fiancé and felt miserable with my whole life. I knew it was because God was missing, but I didn’t know how to get back to Him. Every week I told myself I was going to find a church. Every Sunday passed without me stepping out the door. I don’t remember ever praying about it. I don’t even think I knew how.
Then came reclamation day, June 6, 2003. I was on my way to get a badge for my first day as a full-time teacher. I barely made it 5 blocks when a blue Ford Escort ran a red light and flipped my little red Ford Ranger. It spun me through the intersection on the driver’s side of the truck, grinding glass and asphalt into my left arm.
As the car struck my truck, all I thought was, “Oh!”
When the wheels of the truck left the ground, I mentally threw my life at God. You don’t have time to think anything through in those moments. Everything happens so quickly that “Oh!” is a complete thought. I didn’t have the time or mental capacity to wonder if I could trust God. It was instinctual. I just threw myself at Him.
You know what? He never misses a throw. He always catches.
They had to tear my windshield out to free me from the truck. Then they picked up my unscratched, unbent, perfect glasses from the middle of the intersection and put them on my face in the back of the ambulance. (A minor miracle among major miracles.)
At the hospital emergency room, there were a ton of questions. I was not in a good mental state for all that was flying at me. Finally, they all went away, and I was alone. Then came the most momentous moment of my life. The room filled with a brilliant light that wasn’t made by electricity. I couldn’t see anything in particular, just that light. I knew with every fiber of my being that God was there. And He was giving me back my life. Then, I spoke the most intelligent words of my life: “No, you keep it. I have no clue what I’m doing with it.” And the light went away.
I had some scratches and embedded glass and asphalt on my left arm, and I had many bruises all over my body. But that was it. Nothing was broken. Only the sleeve of my dress was torn. No injuries of greater consequence.
Since then, I have stumbled and fallen over more than my fair share of sins, but my faith has never wavered. I only hope and pray that my sin, my hypocrisy, my humanity never causes one of His little ones to stumble. If I haven’t, it’s only because He’s looking out for them.
God is always faithful. I’m still working on it.
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (Matthew 13:18-23).
“For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever” (Psalm 117:2).
“But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3).
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