"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses."
Psalm 107:19
“This is it! I’m going to die.”
Six months earlier, I'd walked down the aisle and married my best friend. Now, we were living our best life in the mountains of Colorado. My husband, an architect, worked close to home, but I had a longer drive to the public school down the valley where I taught third grade.
It was a cold winter's morning as I navigated our Subaru Outback down the winding mountain roads on my way to work. The sun had not risen yet, but I knew the familiar turns, and I wanted to get to school before the students arrived so I could finish preparing for the day's lesson.
As I neared my destination, I hummed a song of praise. Today would be a wonderful day.
The last stretch of road always unnerved me. It was a narrow stretch with one lane going each way. To the right, large boulders and rock filled the shoulder, and beyond that, cold rock jutted vertically as a solid wall. Across the left, oncoming cars had to squeeze between my lane and the steep drop to the frigid Roaring Fork River below. There were no shoulders or guardrails. After driving this road dozens of times each week, it had become less stressful for me to pass it, but it still made me stiffen up a bit. Suddenly, my car hit black ice. Before I knew what happened, I was inches from the dark cliff wall. I jerked to a stop and took a second to calm down before I directed my car back to the road, my heart pounding.
“Did that just happen?” I asked, shocked.
As I pulled back onto the icy road, I realized that I was sliding. I tried to brake, use gas, or turn, but I kept sliding. A car was coming my way, and I was headed towards the other side of the road where it dropped down a few hundred feet to the frigid waters below. A cold sweat came over me. There was no time; I was sliding to the edge, and there was nothing I could do about it. I saw the driver's-side tire go over the white line; the headlights of the oncoming car blinded me as its horn blasted. I realized this was the end.
“This is it! I'm going to die. My poor husband will be crushed. Lord, help him.” All these thoughts swirled in the few milliseconds I had left. "Lord, please help me! I can't make it without you!” Suddenly, as if in a dream, I was driving on my side of the road. Shocked, I stared ahead, trying to take in what had just happened. How did I get here? I was just headed off the cliff to my death, and now I am here? How? Where was the oncoming car? How did I not hit it? I just teleported all the way over here from there. How? A few minutes later, I sat in the school parking lot, shaking. “God, you saved me! There was no way I could have gotten out of that on my own. Surely you have a purpose for my life. Thank you.”
I called my husband and relayed the events of the morning drive. We prayed a prayer of thanksgiving together. Through the years, I have never forgotten this miracle. I have shared it with my children and friends. God saved my life that day.
Call to Action
We serve a mighty God who delivers us from trouble, not always as we think it should be done, but as He knows what is best for us. Let us keep in mind the times when our angels have been by our sides, helping us, protecting us, and guiding us down the right path, and let us rejoice always!
All Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
