It was a normal day and I was headed to school like I do every weekday. At the last intersection on my way to school, the light was yellow as I was about to take a left turn. Like I usually do, I clear the intersection and turn left as the light turns from yellow to red. Works every time! I usually see the oncoming traffic slow down, but this time an old white toyota pickup came barreling through the intersection at about 40-45mph in its attempt to beat the yellow light. I was able to stop right as I started to turn in my attempt to avoid him, but it was too late. BANG! He slammed into my oh so beautiful Subaru Impreza Sport Edition and I spun about 90 degrees. I closed my eyes so I didn’t exactly see it happen at the instant. As I opened my eyes, I saw some smoke in the air from the airbag that had just deployed in front of me. My body felt completely fine. I looked to the side, and I notice the white truck with a destroyed tire and wheel area with slight body damage in the front. My first thoughts were:
1. Jesus why?! This isn’t happening. No. No. No. [I just had gotten my car back from the body shop 3 weeks ago from someone running into my car in a parking lot]
2. My dad and/or mom will not be happy WHATSOEVER. After all, they had gotten this new car for me 7 months ago.
3. How am I going to get to school? Ain’t nobody got time for this.
I honestly didn’t think about the other guy since he looked ok. I saw I’m started to try to get out of his car, but was slightly impeded because my bumper was lodged under his car door and the ground. I turned on the emergency blinkers and then started to get out myself. My door opened only slightly since it was blocked by the twisted fender, but after a little muscle I was able to get out. I called my dad and as calmly as possible told him I got in a car crash and asked him for what to do. He told me to get the car out of the road. I was like “I can’t do that.” Anyway, the authorities showed up and began to direct traffic and start to do the car crash routine with paperwork and things like that. My dad came, and much to my surprise, he wasn’t raging mad and was cool as a cucumber.
What I had experienced and what I will experience because of this crash will be very impactful for me (Impactful — get it? I’m so punny…).
First, I had never been in a car crash before and this one could have done some crazy damage to my body. After looking at the wreckage from the outside, it looked nasty. What people saw and what the police said was that it should have been much worse for me. I had escaped almost entirely unscathed except for the smallest of painless red marks on my wrist from the airbag deployment. Incredible. This was the work of God, shielding me from danger.
I praise Jesus for keeping me safe, because without Him I could have been hurt much worse. God loves his kids that much to protect them from danger, and the beauty of it was that He doesn’t have to. Because He loves us, I experienced firsthand that there is never a time when God looks away from us. Even when I was alone in the car minding my own business, God was intentionally looking at me and was instantly there to shield me from danger. And then to tell me afterward, in the most calming, comforting voice, He said “Its ok Brandon. I’ve got you. You’re safe.” Jesus, you are amazing. There are no gods like you, who know my every need and shield me from great danger like the way you do.
By the way, this morning one promise of God I have been trying to wrap my mind around was this: Isaiah 42:2-3:
“When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior”
Every time I read this I was like, God what does this really mean for my life? Like is that a promise for the physical world or just a spiritual one? Well with this car crash, I got the answer. Its both!
The next part of how this crash will effect me is what will happen afterwards. This car was expensive and I’m not sure about getting a new one that is just as nice. Growing up in a financially secure family, I had never lacked an abundance nor have I ever had to downgrade when it comes to getting new things. The outcome of this crash might be different for me, however, and although I’m not mad about it or anything its something that I have never had to face in my life. But after all the frustration over this wrecked machinery, a burden was lifted off of me that I had seldom noticed before.
I truly experienced — perhaps for the first time in my life — how exhausting it can be to live in a constant obligation to maintain the nice things we own. It can be stressful, especially when you own a lot of nice things. Like a nice house, or a nice car, or a nice computer or whatever. I don’t have to worry any more about my car getting wrecked. Now that its toast, I just realized that I am actually perfectly fine without it! What! Losing nice things isn’t the end of the world? You mean I’m totally fine without the American Dream? I have seen many people freak out about their nice things getting lost or destroyed. What I have seen is a burden they carry that doesn’t have to be there. This is not me condemning those who worry about nice things (I do it a lot myself!), but hey, I would like to point out a hindrance, a chain that comes from that worry I personally deal with.
God desires for His people to be free in every which way. So my question to the reader is this: what burdens do you carry regarding material things? I challenge you to really think about that nice thing, whatever it may be and take time to consider God’s view of you and what you own. Take time to listen to the Holy Spirit tell you about how you are loved and treasured despite your material possessions or lack thereof. Also, I want to remind you that God will provide all your needs in this world, because you are the apple of His eye because He loves YOU. He doesn’t love you because you have things. “He never lets the righteous go hungry.”
There is so much freedom when not chained down by material obligation. Maybe the chains come from our fear. Maybe we want people to look up to us or not look down on us for having certain things. I’m not saying we need to necessarily abandon our material things, but saying its important to just not let them be the main concerns of our lives. Its considered wrong by God because its simply a negative drain on life, hindering us from what is better.
Anyway, I’m actually becoming thankful that this happened to me overall. Everyone was fine, and I got to experience God’s promises in a physical way. I got to get free from one of the many material burdens I carry. And hey, its a story to tell. Plus, I’m fine both spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Thank you to all my loved ones — both friends and family — for letting me know you were concerned for me. It truly means a lot and I would feel the same way if you were in my place.
This may have been hell’s attempt to stop me from going on the World Race, or just discourage me about it. Well HA! Nice try.
