Lessons From My Recent NEAR-DEATH Experience
As Christians we often talk about how God fights battles for us that we don't even see. And He protects us from danger and tragedy that we don't even know about.
Well I saw God's Deliverance right in front of my eyes that defies all human logic.
Last week I went on a trip with my husband. We hadn't been on a trip with just the two of us since our honeymoon 28 years ago so we were excited.
Let me tell you that this was the most eventful trip I have ever been on. You could add up all the events of all the trips I've taken in my 50 years and it still wouldn't add up to all the crazy things that happened on our one week trip.
I could tell you about the super passionate owner of a chocolate shop that made us smile and laugh for a good half hour after we'd only been in his shop for 4 minutes.
Or I could tell you how we got absolutely bamboozled by an AI image online when booking a hotel room for the last leg of our trip home. We thought we were staying in a nice hotel and ended up staying at one of the worst hotels in existence.
But nothing comes close to being delivered from what would have probably been a fatal accident.
Just east of Kamloops BC, we were on a straight, easy stretch of highway. There are not too many of those in the mountains!
We were at full speed.
Suddenly we could see a red minivan was going to pull out onto the highway from a side road. There was no reason for the driver to not see us except he must have just not been paying attention. It wasn't foggy, it was completely light out. Even so, my husband had turned our lights on to be extra safe in the mountains.
Yet this minivan started to pull out onto the highway, to the point that he is most definitely in front of the right side of the vehicle. My vehicle is black, his was bright red. I was a passenger. My eyes could clearly see we were going to hit him.
Travis couldn’t go into the other lane fully to get around because of oncoming traffic.
Questions flew through my mind.
Are we going to be “dead hurt” or just “critically hurt?” Because from what my eyes could see there was no way we were going to get out of this unscathed.
And then the miracle.
It was as though our SUV defied the laws of physics for a while and bent itself out of the way. Like the front corner crunched itself inward, out of the path of the red mini van.
Suddenly we were past the mini van as if nothing had happened and we hadn’t just inexplicably escaped serious injury or death.
My husband and I were shaken for at least an hour.
He kept asking me over and over again:
“HOW did we miss him?!?!?!?!?!”
The ONLY answer is:
GOD.
God intervened.
We were silent for a while. And then my husband said:
“CLEARLY God wants us here for longer.”
That statement got me thinking.
The first few things that came to mind were:
Am I keeping all the promises I've made to God?
Am I pursuing Him with the level of fervor that He deserves?
There's nothing like a near-death experience to remove any apathy you have for your existence. Or for God’s unmistakable goodness.
My husband is right! God does clearly want us here for longer because that miracle was mind-boggling.
If you're wondering if you're still meant to be here, I can assure you, you are.
You know how I know that?
You woke up today and there's breath in your lungs. Two miracles that certain people all over the world didn't experience this morning.
I am meant to be here and I have extraordinary purpose and things to accomplish for God's Kingdom.
So do you.
Apathy is a scheme of the devil.
Apathy is a form of surrender, but not to God. It's a weak manifestation of beliefs like:
I don't matter or it doesn't matter.
I don't know if God's able.
Nothing's going to change.
God's done with me.
Other people have tremendous purpose but not me, I'm ordinary.
God does miracles for other people but not me.
All of those are lies. That is not the life that Jesus died for you to have.
In Christ, you are more than a conqueror.
With God all things are possible.
You worship the God of the universe that parted the Red Sea, made the sun stand still and resurrects people from the dead.
If you are believing any apathetic lies you need to stop. Whatever your situation is, God's not done. And He can change anything in a nanosecond.
We have to remember that we are in a war, even if we don’t want to be.
Ephesians 6:11
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Strike down the devil’s scheme of apathy in every area of your life.
Friend, I love you but get after it. Seriously.
God has brought some tremendous conviction to me on things I was not doing that I need to be doing.
To fan into flame more joy, gratitude, appreciation, and service in my life.
To value every moment with my loved ones.
Ask God what YOU need to fan into flame in your life to stand against the scheme of apathy.
One bizarre part of this whole thing was that even though my flesh was freaking out when we were about to be in a potentially fatal accident, I still had peace in my spirit.
Right after my thoughts of “are we dead hurt or critically hurt,” my next thought was “God's got me and I'm going to be okay no matter the outcome.” I can't explain it but I had a total peace with either scenario.
It was a true “peace that surpasses understanding” deal because I still don’t understand it!
I certainly wouldn't wish the stress of that type of situation on anyone. Yet, I would wish on each of you to experience that level of deliverance so that you could witness God's power and presence the way I did.
Friends, I love you. I implore you:
Put a no apathy sign on every part of your life.
A child of God has NO TIME for that!!
In passionate purpose,
Dorothy