In the past six months, I nearly lost two very important people. Why did God spare them and not others?
First, my son was involved in an auto accident. He was driving down the highway at night doing 60 mph when he hit three pregnant black Angus heifers. He called us to come get him and said, “I hit a cow.” What an understatement! When we got there, we approached from behind. The car looked fine at first glance, but as we walked to our son at the front of the car, we could not believe he was standing in front of us. The front end was smashed up and the windshield had buckled into the car where all three cows had hit the windshield and one had flown over the car. The windshield had stopped within inches of his head. He did not have a scratch on him. He was not even sore the next day. It was truly a miracle that he was alive.
The second was my husband. He recently suffered a massive heart attack–one that is
termed a “widow-maker.” He is in his early fifties with no risk factors. He had symptoms that were explained away by issues with his neck and stomach.
I was not home when his heart attack happened, but two of our children were. He started having chest pains and sat down thinking it was his gallbladder and would pass. After ten minutes, he asked our son to take him to the emergency room. They didn’t make it two miles before my son called 911. He told them where they were and where he was headed. They told my son to stop at the highway and they would be there. (We live in the middle of nowhere.) The EMT’s started working on him immediately.
Meanwhile, my daughter had called to tell me that they were going to the ER with chest pains and that she was by herself. My son could not answer his phone because he was talking to 911, so I had no idea what was happening. I sent a message to a lady at our church, asking for prayer, and told my daughter to call a friend of ours down the road to come sit with her. The friend called her church and within minutes, five prayer chains had been activated. My son finally answered and told me what had happened. He was scared and sitting in the car. I told him to go be near his dad so that we would know what was happening. As soon as he got near the ambulance, I heard “heart attack.” I was thirty minutes away with my other son and felt so helpless.
The paramedics said they were mediflighting him. I knew it was bad at that point. I got to the hospital right after my husband, followed by many family members and friends.
He was taken to the cath lab and had two stents placed, followed by a third one a week later. The doctor credits our son and the paramedics with saving his life and said that it is a miracle that he made it to get help.
God has a plan for both their lives. Sometimes, we think that only applies to younger people like my son, but anytime God spares us, it is for a reason. We may not know that reason in this lifetime but we must strive to live our lives to honor God. We never know when something we do will affect someone else.
Jeremiah 28:11 (NIV)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
If God has given you a second chance, make the most of it.
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I wrote this as part of my Writing for Healing. What I write for myself is much less structured. I pray that others will receive peace and healing through this process.
What a blessing you are to open up and share some very tough experiences. God is the ultimate healer and I love how you put Him at the head of your healing process. Thank you for the encouragement and inspiration!
I hate articles like this that imply your loved ones have some great purpose and mine must not have since they were not spared!!! Give me a break. We had larger chains, my brother had not fulfilled his purpose. This is riduculous for you to even pretend you know the meaning of Gods plan, cause trust me you don’t. For all of us that were not so lucky to have our loved one spared.
Oh Chandra, I don’t think that is what she meant at all. Her second line is about why hers were spared and not someone elses’ loved one. It doesn’t make any sense. I don’t think there is any way to rationalize the why behind any of it. I can guarantee because I know her heart that she never intended to make you or anyone who has lost a loved one feel like their loved ones lives wouldn’t have continued to have purpose. Tragically, many die way too soon. Everyone always has an impact in life and it is tragic when… Read more »
Thank you Kristi. You do know my heart and got the essence of what I was trying to say.
Chandra, Please believe that I never intended to imply that my loved ones had a purpose and yours did not. I believe sometimes our loved one are taken to spare them some future pain. Sometimes, we just don’t know why things happen. I merely was saying that we all have a purpose and when we are given a second chance, we should make the most of it. We need to be aware. I commented earlier that this was part of my healing process. I previously wrote about Writing for Healing. This method may help you as you struggle through your… Read more »