“I have a grave robber moment…call me!” was the voicemail from my dear friend Bebe! Over the past week she and I had spent a good bit of time with each other praying. We spent time talking about God, Scripture, our lives, seeing God and the supernatural in our lives. Needless to say, I have had a great deal to share with her….those fantastic moments…when God is so EVIDENT in my life….”burning bushes,” or we now call them “grave robber” moments. I pressed send immediately to call her back! Gladly she picked up on the first ring. :o) All I could say was, “Let’s hear it!”
She proceeded to tell me about her high school senior, Will, following his friend Bennett as they left her house to head down I-77. Minutes after they left, she got the dreaded phone call…..that no mom, or dad for that matter, wants to get. There had been an accident. Her son Will witnessed his friend get hit head on by another car that had crossed the median into his lane. Will got out of the car to see if he could get to his friend Bennett. He pulled the air bag back and there was Bennett, unconscious.
Little did Bebe know that on the same night of the accident I had gotten a 911 text from a friend alerting me as to the reason she wasn’t at the women’s conference I was at. She was headed to the ER to be with her dear friend Kim, Bennett’s mom. Right after I received the text, I turned to a couple of people, realizing many people around me would know this family and child, and told them what was going on. As I shared, our friend Stacey led us in prayer……:) Several hours later I received the following text:
“They are going to admit Bennett, mainly for observation, tonight…amazingly, he is going to come away with no broken bones, or internal injuries. It’s a miracle. We found out that his car flipped several times and they had to cut him out of with the “jaws of life”. There is a small spot on his brain they are watching because of concussion. Right now he is covered in glass which they are carefully pulling out to make sure he won’t need stitches and then moving him upstairs for observation. Thank you ladies for praying.”
Bebe and I talked about Will’s version. He was in dismay and shock. Utterly in disbelief at what he had just witnessed–so fast, so surreal. The fright of checking on his dear friend–the unknown as he pulled back the “air bag”. Bebe and I rejoiced together over the miracle of protection from the jaws of death.
It made me relive for just a moment the phone call I received several years ago when my nephew was in a terrible car accident and was air lifted to Richland Memorial. He is fine today but there was about 24 hours that we didn’t know. I will never ever forget that phone call or that night. I am sure my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew for sure have more surreal moments than me.
I realize not everyone has a peaceful, walk away moment…a “grave robber” moment of the miraculous….but I have learned to rejoice in the ones we do have. To see and experience the ones that, for whatever reason, God has said it is not time for them to leave this earth. It also makes me know that He has a plan and even when we don’t understand, we have to trust HIS hand. To grab hold and allow time “to show us” the intended purpose of our experiences.
I love this passage found in I Kings because it reminds me that the storms come. We see the craziness going on around us, or in our own lives. We wonder where God is. He is there! He is the still small voice. I Kings 19:11-12, “Then He said, ‘Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.”
I believe that God is an all-knowing and all-powerful God. He uses everything for our good to accomplish His will (see Romans 8:28). It is much harder to see when the story doesn’t end happy….death. I have friends who have lost children recently. Their pain, loss and anguish…is GREAT….gut-wrenching. I see “grave robber” moments in them as well…picking up…carrying on…doing great things for others in their child’s name.
I see them testifying and giving account of a Great God and His comfort and peace that does pass all human understanding (see Philippians 4:7). I see them living Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding and in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” One of the fathers who had to bury his son reminded me recently that our paths may be straight but not with out pain.
We all face storms. You never know how God may use what you are going through to help someone coming behind you. Someone going through a similar storm and in great need of support and encouragement to face another day. I encourage you today to “rejoice with those who rejoice” and also to “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15). We are the body of Christ.