Sometimes things happen in life that you just can’t plan for. As much as we like to have control over what we are doing, strange things can happen beyond our imagination or anybody else’s foresight.
An Idaho father, Justin Firth, 43, was installing a fence when a hay bale spear fell off a truck that was parked nearby. (A hay bale spear, or tine or spike, is used to pierce and move heavy bales of hay, which can weigh as much as 800 to 1,500 pounds.) Suddenly, Justin was knocked to the ground as the spear pierced through his back and exited through his stomach. Coworkers immediately called 911 and used a heat torch to completely detach the spear from the machine.
Though Mr. Firth felt no pain and there was no outward bleeding, being pierced by a 40-pound spear was a horrific, life-threatening injury. He was immediately flown to a medical center where doctors performed a four-hour surgery to repair the internal injuries. His life was literally spared by centimeters! The spear had missed his spinal cord, aorta and the tube connecting his kidney to his bladder by less than an inch — that’s how close he had come to being paralyzed or to being killed instantly.
Mr. Firth had nothing but thanks and praise for the many people who had helped him that day. He plans to keep the spear as a reminder of his narrow escape from death.
Narrow escapes from death come in many forms. It could be an illness that you survived for which medical science has no explanation. What about the bullet that somehow missed you? Many people have survived fires, tornadoes and drownings that can only be explained by the hand of God. This is God’s voice speaking to you, for the Bible declares, “God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not” (Job 33:1414For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. (Job 33:14)). Each one of us has been given a chance, actually many chances, if we’re honest, to seek God and to find peace with Him. This is why God says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)). Death is the final end to the “accepted time” and the “day of salvation.”
Tragic Bathroom Break
Margaret Maurer, 21, was enjoying her spring break with a few friends. They were planning on hiking in Georgia. It was early March, and she was really looking forward to graduating from college in May. It never entered their minds that one of their lives would end in tragedy and death while doing something so common and ordinary as stopping to use a bathroom at a rest stop!
After using the bathroom, the ladies were walking back to their car when Margaret was instantly killed by two tires that had flown through the air after falling off an 18-wheeler that was passing by. They were bolted together and their combined weight of 500 pounds was a deadly force. It all happened so quickly that there was nothing her traumatized friends could do to help or save her.
Friends and family were stunned by such a freak accident. Her grieving mother had this to say about the tragedy: “I really want to be angry at somebody, but I can’t be. It just happened. It’s absolutely a random, freaky thing. It’s not right. There’s so much that’s wrong about this, but it’s just random.”
The Bible tells us that there is “a time to be born, and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:22A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; (Ecclesiastes 3:2)). Just as narrow escapes come in many forms, so does death. It may be sudden or slow, freaky or common, but it will come. This is why we are commanded to “remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:11Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; (Ecclesiastes 12:1)). No one will be able to stand before God and say, “But it’s not fair! I was so young!” or, “It was so sudden. I didn’t have time to think about You!” What about the hours, days, months and years before you were taken in death? God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:99The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)). Such is the love of God for your soul that He gives every one of us the chance to come to Him.
Being Ready
In the stories above, one person was given a second chance at life, while another wasn’t. It is certain that we all must die — but we do not know when we must die. This is why God says, “Prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:1212Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. (Amos 4:12)). We must all stand before Him one day after we die. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)).
None of us can predict when the line will be crossed between life and death. “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:11Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. (Proverbs 27:1)). After death, your eternal fate is sealed, based on the choice you make towards God while here on earth. God says that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). Because we are all sinners, God says, “The wages of sin is death; BUT the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). Why is this great gift “through Jesus Christ our Lord”? It is because “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18)).
God wants you to repent of your sins and to ask Him to forgive you. You must believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead. You must own Him (Jesus) as your Lord and Savior and ask Him to help you to live for Him. This is how we prepare to meet God. This is how we have salvation and eternal life!
If you open your heart’s door to Jesus, you are ready to live for Him today, and you are also prepared to die, even if it is in a freak accident.
Read on and find out how Sneaker Waves shows yet another surprising and sudden danger