THANK YOU GOD

by Brandy Webb

Have you ever had one of those days that make you realize how real God is, and you are completely filled with joy that you know He is real? I am talking about one of those days that you know without any doubt that God was helping you, and when you finally get home, you are relieved and very grateful to have God looking out for you. I had one of those days yesterday, 

Yesterday we received a torrential downpour of rain. In fact, I wish it would have gone to comfort those in the fires in California. We did need the rain because we were under drought conditions, but 

we didn’t need it all to come down at one time. Well, I found myself with my two children stuck on the side of the road in the torrential downpour and without any cell phone signal. 

This is what happened. We were coming home late from school and grocery shopping. Everything was going just fine. Then unexpectedly, because that is how life goes, my van’s serpentine belt decided to just pop off, thus causing the loss of power steering and a few other things. I had to quickly get off the road.  

So, there we were twenty minutes from home, in the dark, pouring rain, and no cell phone signal. Thankfully, my car still ran. I know some vehicles when the serpentine belt breaks the car stops running completely. Mine however, still ran. It just didn’t have any power steering and eventually my battery would die since the alternator wasn’t working now.

Unfortunately, my first reaction was to just cry. I will be honest, I am a crier. My children’s first reaction, though, was to pray. Oh, what we can learn from our children.

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” –Jesus (Matthew 18:3).

So, I did pray. I started the car, and with my flashers on, we drove to the nearest town until we got signal to call my husband. We did have to get the car towed to our place, but we all made it home safely even after having to drive through inches of water on the road. It was a slow drive; couldn’t get above forty-five mph or you would hydroplane, but we made it home, thanks to God. 

The truth is, a lot could have happened last night. The conditions were perfect for things to go a lot worse. However, it didn’t, and my family and I are so grateful. This little incident actually increased our faith. I know it may not have been a huge trial, but even the little ones serve a purpose. Trials test our faith and refine it into gold (1 Peter 1:6-7). Also, “we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22b). And when we go through hardships we need to act like my children did—pray. The prayer of the saints is powerful and effective (James 5:16).

I know that God heard my children and my cry, and he delivered us out of our troubles last night. So, I wanted to thank Him for His intervention. I believe that there are no small miracles, and He deserves our constant praise and thanks. That is why I wanted to share our little adventure from last night. To just share how grateful I am to have a God that can do all things for us and does answer prayers. Sometimes the answers may not be exactly what we wanted; however, He knows what is best for us all the time.

17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit. 

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all (Psalm 34).