An incident that happened last summer on a butte near Sweet Home, Oregon, might well be a case of God’s sending an angel to help Sue Arrance and her little daughter Starolette.
Late one night, the van that was driven by Sue missed a sharp turn in the road and plunged over 100 feet into the ravine below, bouncing off boulders and snapping off trees, leaving the van a battered, twisted wreck at the bottom.
Little Starr, only five years old, was thrown clear of the wreckage, but she suffered a broken nose, cuts, bruises and scrapes.
Sue, her mother, was in far worse condition. She had many injuries, including broken ribs, a punctured lung, a fractured pelvis, a broken leg and cuts on her head. Starr crawled the 30 feet over to her mother, who was also thrown out of the van. She thought her unconscious mother was dead.
The night was dark and cold. The canyon was unfamiliar and dangerous. But Starr remembered her father’s instructions. He had taken Starr and her older sister on hikes along the ridges and canyons of that part of Oregon and taught them about trees, birds and animal tracks. He had instructed them that if they were ever lost at the bottom of a canyon, the only way to go is up, because they were bound to find a road.
The paramedic team that finally was called the next morning found it necessary to use ropes and other safety equipment to get down and up the steep canyon wall.
In the dark, little Starr climbed part way up through brambles, around boulders and through dumped trash. At one point she lost her footing and hit her head on a rock. She started back up the side of the canyon, but she got cold. Finding a hole, she crawled into it and spent the night there.
It was while she was in this hole, cold and afraid, that a little boy with a puppy appeared and spent the night with her, telling her not to worry, that everything was going to be all right.
Her father Ron felt that it was just a make-believe friend, but her mother felt that God had sent an angel to help in their rescue. In either case, we believe it was God’s deliverance, because God is able even to work in our minds to comfort and guide us. Starr received the needed comfort and encouragement to go on.
Ellen Walker, driving the cliff-top road the next morning, found the battered little girl barefoot and shivering by the side of the road. She took Starr to her home and gave her a hot bath. Then Starr began to spill her story. Ellen called the sheriff’s office while her husband drove to the spot and found the van at the bottom.
Had the little girl not made it to the top when she did, her mother would soon have died. Her injuries were very serious, her body temperature was dangerously low, and she was in a state of shock.
Little Starr has completely recovered from her injuries and her mother is continuing to mend, having survived because of a loving God who sends help in His own way, according to His wisdom and love.
Starr’s mother said, “I really do believe that Jesus sent that ‘little boy’ to help her feel comfortable.”
Boys and girls, what a God we have! He is “not willing that any should perish.” 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). He not only cares for us in our everyday lives here below, but has a far greater care for our never-dying souls. We have been caught in the wreckage of sin and are on our way into the pit of hell. But God loves us so much He has sent His own Son into this world to deliver us and lead us safely to heaven.
Yes, Jesus came down to this sin-ruined earth, but the deliverance He provides cost Him a great price. He had to bear “our sins in His own body on the tree.” 1 Peter 2:2424Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24). “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).
Will you accept His deliverance?
ML-07/26/1987