Undone
We were heading back from Ludington, Michigan last month and
traveling along a fairly deserted four lane highway divided by a large
medium. A pickup truck pulling a large
camper-trailer was in front of us. As
Beloved began to pull up along the left-hand side of the camper in order to
pass, the camper began to sway a little bit. Beloved quickly slowed down
leaving space between the two vehicles as we watched the camper sway more and
more. And then in a split-second, the
camper pulled the truck off the road and both violently flipped over and over
as if they were just plastic toys. The
camper blew apart coming totally undone, clothes, flooring, aluminum, sink,
table, and bedding flying in every
direction as if a bomb had just exploded inside of it. The truck finally came to a stop on the other
side of the medium and the sight was terrifying. The top of the truck was squashed in and the
sides and front were bashed. Smoke rose
from the front hood and out of the driver’s side broken window hung a bloody
arm. From a small opening a head protruded, soaked in blood. Nothing moved.
Beloved bolted from the car and I grabbed the cell phone and dialed 911. I quickly left instructions… “send fire
trucks, ambulances, police and jaws of life as soon as you can get here.”
As I was leaping out of the car I heard a scream that did
not stop. Running across the medium from our side of the road was a hysterical
woman. Beloved grabbed her and held on as she continued screaming and crying,
garbled words that began to paint a picture. Her husband was in the truck. She
had been in the car just ahead of him.
By now a couple of other cars had stopped and we saw that
the man in the truck was able to talk a little. A fire extinguisher was
retrieved from one of the cars. Someone found a piece of aluminum from the
camper and held it up to shield sun from the trapped man. And I just hung on to
the sobbing and terrified woman.
As from instinct I began to pray with all of my heart, soul
and mind. “Save him! Save him!” were all the words that came forth. At that time another car stopped and a young
woman came running to the scene. “I am a doctor,” she said. And then a man came
by my side and quietly asked if we could pray. We held hands, my other arm
securely around the crying woman, and we prayed together. We asked the Lord to
rescue the man and save him from injury. We asked that the lady would be
comforted. We asked that the rescue crew would arrive soon. And then he walked
away
The entire rescue crew had arrived within twenty-five
minutes, the jaws-of-life being the last and most critical to get to the
scene. The team of ten first responders
worked for at least twenty-five minutes trying to free the entrapped man. Finally the door was cut off and the roof
disengaged. Ten arms carefully pulled him from the wreckage and loaded him into
the awaiting ambulance. The woman went
with one of the policemen and we continued our travels, shaken and yet thankful
for all of the people who had been there to help. We continued to pray
throughout the day for the family not knowing for sure if the man had survived
or not.
The next morning I called the Shelby Sheriff’s department and
inquired about the man. “Oh he is just
fine!”, the officer said, “They are all just fine!”
I wish I had the eyes of Elisha who could see the armies of
heaven gathered around. I would like to
see what was REALLY going on during that whole time, I mean what was going on
in heaven, and what were the spiritual forces taking place on earth. How did a
man survive such a horrific ordeal with no permanent damage? Was it just blind
luck or were there angels protecting him for some reason? And what part does prayer play in such a case,
any part or perhaps all parts? Were we there for such a time as this? I do not
know the answer to these questions, but I do ponder. And yet in it all we both feel like we
witnessed a miracle and are more grateful than words can say for the power of
God to save a man.
2 Kings 6: 17
Then Elisha prayed,
“O Lord I pray open his eyes that he might see. And the Lord opened the
servants eyes and he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses and the
chariots of fire all around.”
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