This is 911, Are You Okay?

It was a beautiful truck. One that I spent more money than I should have on, and doctored it up into everything my inner teenage boy would want.  It was a Ford F250 diesel with a big lift kit, bigger tires, a bunch of shiny accents on the outside, and luxury on the inside. I was so proud of that beast. Oh...and it could haul and sounded like a monster. What it couldn't do was corner very well, especially when an angry, prideful, immature man was driving it too fast, late at night, on dark, curvy back roads.   

I missed a turn, overcorrected, and flipped the truck, rolling it several times into the woods. I don't know how long I was out, and after crawling out of a hole where the windshield once was, I broke down and wept. How did I survive? Everything was totaled except for where I was sitting. God certainly got my attention, and he was just getting started.  

"For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone." (Psalm 91:11-12)

This was one of the most costly mistakes of my life. And at the same time, one with a massive return. It was a pivot in my life that I look back on and am thankful for, as it launched me in a direction I needed to go. It was a wake-up call in so many ways. It injected a healthy dose of humility, and I needed to find better ways to deal with hurt and disappointment. It taught me to number my days, as I don't want to waste the precious ones I have left. Most importantly, it taught me that my plans are not His plans and that God loves me, will protect me in spite of myself, and that He has work for me to do.  

The bigger the fall, the more glorious the recovery.

"For I know the plans I have for you", He says. "Plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). He reminds us that when we pray, he will listen, and when we look for him, we will find him. This experience also showed me that He will do whatever is needed to get my attention and draw me to him. That is a bundle of mercy wrapped up in grace, delivered by angels.  

When you make colossal mistakes like I have, do the next right thing. Fall on your knees and thank God. That is a language he understands and responds to. You are here, so He has plans for you and there is work to be done…so do it. You don't have to wait for your failure to launch your future, but never let it prevent it. "This is 29:11, are you okay?, How can He assist?"