The day He brought her right across my path

I tend to get wrapped up and consumed with the little things in this life of mine and forget how close I live to eternity.

I am so thankful for Father's reminders.

Because it really is just a breath away. 

Or, as David says, "... there is only a step between me and death."

Eternity.

I know they say that all the time, but do we really believe it?

Like... really?

I pulled out of the driveway on a recent Friday afternoon, all wrapped up in my self and consumed with some things that really didn't matter in the light of eternity.

My attitude? It stunk.

I was flustered because my hair was greasy and I didn't have time to wash it before I left. I was letting my to-do list pressure me, and worried about the things I left undone in my hurry to get into town. 

All very petty things. Very. Very. Petty.

But the Holy Spirit is so faithful to help us in our weakness... and He began working on me about my heart. As I drove I realized I was wrong and asked for His forgiveness.

I came up over the hill, passed highway W on the left, and after rounding the bend I saw a red truck coming towards me in the opposite lane. Suddenly the driver swerved across the double yellow lines. For a split-second I watched and expected the truck to swerve back into its own lane (like they always do)... but it didn't. It swerved more. 

I jerked the wheel to the right just as the truck was on me -my right tires in the grass off the road-

and heard a crash.

I gasped loud, but my hands stayed firmly on the steering wheel and my car moved smoothly right back into my lane. (That, I'm convinced, was God driving because I'm certain I would have lost control at that point). Little bits of glass had showered my dashboard and my shirt.
I felt dust in my eye.

I looked out my open window to see my rear-view mirror slammed into the side of the car a few inches from me- the mirror itself was lying (a bit shattered) on the floor in front of the passenger seat.

I pulled in the next driveway to survey the damage, and found that the mirror was the only thing hit. I was somewhat baffled (And yes, I guess I should admit; I was a little disappointed. I mean, really? That's IT?? I was expecting to see more than that! Sorry people, but I do love adventure...).

A minute later the red truck pulled in behind me. The driver had turned around and come back to see if I was okay. She apologized over and over, explaining that her little dog had got in between her feet and the pedals so she had reached down while driving to pull it out of the way. That's when she swerved.

I saw a crack in her headlight.

Her HEADLiGHT?!

Her headlight had collided with my little mirror?! You guys, seriously. This mirror doesn't stick out into the road that far. It's a tiny mirror!

There wasn't even the slightest scratch (nothing, that is, that hadn't already been there) anywhere else down the side of either vehicle. Her headlight and my mirror were the only two things that made contact.

Her hair was pink, she smelled of smoke. Within the first five minutes I learn that her husband left her recently for someone else and her dog had been hit by a car that very afternoon.

Her life reflected my mirror.

A bit shattered.

I placed my hand on her arm while she still sat in the driver's seat and I prayed with her. 

Jesus? Will you reach down and capture this shattered soul...?

Tears came to her eyes.

For the next half-hour as we waited for the officer to show up, she shared her life with me.

She has cancer. She was in a wreck twenty-two years ago that sent her best friend into eternity. Her dad just passed away last year. Into eternity....

Eternity.

Oh, I just kept thinking about eternity.

After the sun had sunk lower on the horizon...

After a full report had been written up for insurance purposes...

After the she honked and waved and pulled back between the lines...

After the officer and his lights faded away...

After I was back on my way into town again...

I just couldn't shake the thought.

I guess when someone's headlight passes a few inches from your face at break-neck speed you can't help but wonder about eternity- even for a bit.

I know I am ready for eternity. His life is in me and it's eternal. 

But is she ready for eternity?

Could that be why Father brought her -quite literally- across my path?

Has she found the Healer for her shattered heart? Has she discovered that the way to live is to die?

{Will you pray with me for her?}

 

"All of us must die eventually.
Our lives are like water
spilled out on the ground,
which cannot be gathered up again.
But God does not just sweep life away;
instead, he devises ways to bring us back
when we have been separated from him."
2 Samuel 14:14

We have such a merciful Father! He has made a way to bring us back. He came to heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds. But how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?

I am absolutely convinced now that Father brought her into my life that day for that very reason. So that I could share with her the hope I have in me.

As I drove through the hills and watched the sun set once again over this yet-revolving earth, I thought about the things that had been consuming my thoughts before I saw that red truck cross the yellow lines. Was any of it really worth being consumed with? 

In the light of eternity, do any of these little things really matter??

Last week a dear friend texted me and asked me to pray for her aunt who just got a bad report about the cancer she is battling.

She tells me her aunt lives each day "as if it was her last"...

And I wonder if that is not what we should all be doing.

"Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. 

What is your life? 

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." 

James 4:14

Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Life as I know it now is not guaranteed. 

Am I living each day unto the glory of God?

Am I living each moment filled with thankfulness to a good Father for good gifts?

Am I loving each person in my life unconditionally- as if today is our one last together?

Are the things I'm doing, saying, being, and wanting really worth doing, saying, being, wanting?

Am I walking worthy of the calling with which I was called?

Am I choosing to die daily so that Jesus can live beautifully and powerfully within me?

Am I shining like a star in the sky in this warped and crooked generation- holding out His hope and His truth to those whose paths cross my own?

Am I living in the light of eternity?

Are you?