Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: COMMUTE (07/07/16)
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TITLE: Our Redemption Draweth Nigh | Previous Challenge Entry
By Pamela Padrick Richards
07/11/16 -
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It began like any other weekday. I had driven our daughter to her arts magnet high school in south Saint Petersburg that morning, and it was time to retrieve her. Just as I was about to begin the 25 mile trip down Highway 19, the phone rang. My husband asked me to make a call for him and then call him back. I don’t remember what that call was about—only that the three calls were accomplished in a matter of minutes and I was on my way.
About half way to my destination I came upon an accident that had just occurred on the other side of the highway. I first noticed a Jeep and a young woman sitting on the ground nearby. I could not believe what I saw next: the back half of a full-size car was in the air… and then I could see that the car was protruding from a van’s windshield. The shocking realization that followed was that at least the driver of the van had died and was still inside. Emergency crews had not yet arrived.
There was nothing I could do, and nothing to prevent my uncontrollable sobbing. I was still crying when I reached the school. The newspaper covered the story: A woman was driving Car A with her adult son as a passenger. They were not going far and the driver did not put on her seatbelt. They were southbound in the left lane. A driver next to them in the right lane, Car B, failed to see Car A in the blind spot and crossed into the space of Car A. Inertia from swerving pushed the driver of Car A over to the right. When she tried to hit her brake pedal, she accidentally hit the accelerator, sending the vehicle airborne across the median and into traffic going north. The car flew over the Jeep killing a man inside, and then crashed into the van, killing the van’s driver, a young woman making deliveries.
For weeks I could not get the troubling image out of my mind or stop thinking about the horrific event. I thought of the two people who died and the aloneness of death. I imagined how helpless the driver and passenger of the airborne auto must have felt as their vehicle careened out of control. I felt sympathy for the woman sitting on the grass who narrowly escaped death and witnessed the death of her friend. I finally called my nephew who was an EMT to see how he dealt with his emotions as a firsthand witness in the aftermath of tragedy. Just talking things through with someone who understood was somehow comforting. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6.2 KJV).
As I recall that day in the early 90’s, I still mourn for all involved. I am grateful for the phone call that detained me for a few minutes—minutes that prevented me from possibly being involved in some way. I am thankful for the sacrifices of first responders as they help people in the midst of pain and suffering.
I praise God for His gifts of grace in a world in which a routine detail can mean the difference between life and death. How many of us have forgotten to fasten our seatbelt on a trip to the grocery store, or failed to check beside us on occasion, but we were able to go merrily on our way thereafter? How many times have we failed to recognize the quiet direction of the Holy Spirit, or have responded in obedience to it, without knowing that something of significance happened or was avoided?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, may we always trust the Lord our God: the Father, Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit; with every detail of our life, for in Him we live and move and have our being (NKJV Acts 17:28). And at those times when we find ourselves on the sorrowful side of life, may we still ever trust in His goodness, righteousness, and abiding love. No one of us is guaranteed tomorrow on this earth, but as believers in Christ, our true home is eternal, and we rest in the assurance that ultimately… our redemption draweth nigh (KJV Luke 21:28).
Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints. Psalm 116.15
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