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The sky was
grey and overcast as he came up over the hill.
The wind was in his face and it was bitter as it cut through his scarf
covering his nose and cheeks. He turned
to walk backward, so the sleet would hit him in the back rather than the face
and this helped a little. When he left
that morning for work, he should have been more conscientious of the gas-gauge
and perhaps he wouldn’t have run out.
After all, he passed 3 gas stations on his drive in this morning. After
the nights snow fall the sidewalks were covered and the roads were covered in a
thin sheet of ice as he walked along the side, near the mound of snow piled
along the curb. He knew the gas station
was only another mile or so up the road, he just had to make it there, get some
coffee and fill up a gas can before walking back to his car.The wind bit into the back of his neck and caused his entire body to shake with the frigidness. Still walking backwards, he saw the lights coming toward him. He stood still, waiting for the car to pass, then he saw it start to fish tail. The back was swaying left and right on the icy road, and as the driver tried to get control, he saw the car spin completely around and then head backward down the hill right towards him. In an instant he felt himself tumbling backward into the snow bank along the side of the road, as his feet tripped on the icy surface. He tried to scramble and inch his way up the snow bank, but didn’t get far before the car was crashing into the snow bank. He cried out to a God he didn’t know, and had never prayed to before. His words, “Oh my God, help me” echoed through the morning darkness, as he covered his eyes with his arm and braced for the crushing blow. He heard the crunching snow as the car cut through the snow bank, but there was no collision. And then it was quiet. He opened his eyes to see the license plate of the car only inches from his face, the rear bumper had pushed the snow onto his lap, but never actually made contact. His feet were under the car, but an inch or two of clearance allowed him to slide out from under the spinning tires. He had been spared by mere inches.
What caused this man to cry out to God in his moment of desperation, and fear? He had never stepped foot in a church, raised in a family that abhorred religion and had spent his life building his career and success through unethical and sometimes illegal means. Here in the fear of death, he calls out to a God that he had denied existed only two days earlier in a bar with his friends. Inherent in each of us is the knowledge of God’s presence. From the moment He created you in your mother’s womb, He knew you and you knew Him. You can spend your entire life running away from accepting His existence, but deep inside of your cells and brain matter, there is an awareness and hidden longing for His presence. For you see, you are His creation, you exist because He first chose for you to be created. You could not create yourself, and your parents could not mandate conception. When life is created in the womb, it is because God has so chosen for it to happen.
Before God created the heavens and the earth, He was. This same God, in the form of a human, came to the earth as a baby and lived amongst mankind to be sacrificed for their sins. He is truth, He is wisdom, He is forgiveness and grace, He is the Creator and He is the Word. The word made flesh, the Messiah, the King of Kings, dwelt amongst us. By His Word, He has brought salvation to all mankind, who are willing to accept this truth. One day, every knee will bow and we will all be reconciled to the God who created us. In that moment, it will be evidenced to all present that God indeed was manifest through His Son – Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit to be present in each of us. Are you waiting for the edge of death to decide? I hope it doesn’t come to that. Blessings upon you today and each day forward.
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