Blue Sky…
A few wispy clouds…
The five-year-old in the backseat sings songs from her favorite movie…
The mommy behind the wheel smiles.
It’s a great day.
“Thank you, God,” she thinks.
In front of them, a large SUV blocks her view of the road.
The SUV driver talks on her cell phone…
Then lowers it to her side…
Her gaze following the glowing screen.
In that moment when her eyes are off the road…
She doesn’t see the car in front of her still stopped at a just-changed light…
With a crash the vehicles collide…
In the car behind, the mommy slams on her brakes
Too late…
She’ll hit the SUV.
Swerving onto the grassy shoulder…
She watches the car behind her skid past…
“He would have hit me!” she thinks.
She takes a deep breath
Nobody is hurt.
Drivers are out of the cars that collided.
Everybody is OK.
A near miss.
She pulls back onto the road and drives slowly past the accident.
The sun is still out…
The five-year-old starts singing again…
But somehow the day seems darker…
Seems filled with threats…
She even thinks of a Bible verse to justify her suddenly dark mood…
In this world you will have trouble. John 16:33
She’s about to complain to God…
When she remembers the last half of the verse…
But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
“Maybe,” she thinks, “I’m focusing on the wrong thing…”
Focusing on what might have happened…
Instead of the fact that it didn’t happen!
“Maybe,” she thinks, “near misses are a gift from God.”
“Maybe I Should be thanking God for near misses.”
Her prayer becomes one of thanks…
“Thank you, God, for being with me…”
“I am with you, declares the Lord.” Haggai 1:13
“For being with me every moment…”
…God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5
“Thank You for giving me your strength and your guidance to escape the dangers of this world…
…be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Ephesians 6:10-11
