I called out to Jesus to help me, and He DID!

I was in a pretty serious car accident.  You can look at the picture and tell. Short version:  A street light was not working properly.  After waiting for some time, I made the decision to proceed through the light.  Although I was yielding to oncoming traffic, another driver who I suspect was not paying attention and driving at an incredibly high rate of speed hit me. He didn’t just hit me…he hit me HARD!

Now when I decided to proceed through the light, I never thought I would find myself in such a scary situation.  I did see the car out of the corner of my eye, but because I was nearly clear of the intersection, I didn’t think he was going to hit me.  He did, and from one second to the next, things changed.

BAM!!!!!!!  As soon as I felt it, I started screaming, pleading, ushering, “Jesus, help me! Jesus, help me!”  Over and over, I called.  When I was initially hit, the car went forward with the force of the hit (horizontal or side ways for me, if you can picture that).  The next thing I knew, I was  airborne.  I thought, “Am I going to die?”  As soon as the thought entered my mind, though, it was gone.

As my car went in the air and began to turn, I didn’t feel scared.  I didn’t see my life flash before my eyes.  I didn’t feel like death was near.  My mother and sister crossed my mind during the same seconds that I pondered if I would die, but again they were fleeting thoughts.  What I did feel was protected.  It was like everything around me was flying and going everywhere but there was a bubble, a hedge, if you will, around me.

And then the car landed.  I unbuckled my seat belt and fell out of my seat because the car was upside down.  Because I am extremely claustrophobic and it’s very disorienting to have to move around on the ceiling of a car, I did begin to panic just a bit.  Although I was panicked, I still knew who to call.  “Jesus, get me out of here!”  People gathered at my car almost immediately.  They were trying to pull me out of the driver’s side window but because it was obstructed, the car having had landed on this side, and the side curtain airbags were deployed, I couldn’t fit.

“Everybody, back up! I’m a firefighter.  M’am, can you get out from the passenger’s side?”  I crawled over to the passenger’s side of the car and walked out!  Shouting, screaming, “Thank You, Lord!! Thank You, God!!”  People were amazed that I was walking and talking.  They couldn’t believe that I had just walked out of that upside down car.

When I tell the story, I tell people that it looks a lot worse than my experience actually was.  I. DID. NOT. FEEL. SCARED.  I didn’t.  I felt protected.  I. WAS. NOT. HARMED.  All I have to show (physically) for the accident is a small scratch on my arm, which I’m sure will fade over time although I wish it would stay forever.).

GOD. HAD. IT. ALL. PLANNED. OUT. See Jeremiah 29:11; Isaiah 41:10-13; Deuteronomy 31:8; Hebrews 13:6.

As I waited in the parking lot, I called my insurance company who promptly set me up with a rental.  Enterprise was right next door to the accident scene.  I. COULD. HAVE. WALKED. I didn’t because my mom and I just drove over from one parking lot to the next.  I. DROVE. HOME.

God has a uniquely special way of working everything out.  I have some ideas on why this all happened.  At first, I felt weird because the car looked like I should have been dead, but I didn’t feel like I should have been dead.  I. DID. NOT. HAVE. A. NEAR. DEATH. EXPERIENCE. You know what it is, I feel like God gave me a story to share.  It reveals just how well-planned He is.  How gracious He is.  How merciful the Lord is.

Remember, technically speaking, it was no one’s fault but my own because had I not “ran” the light, I would not have been hit. If I would have stayed behind the red light (even if it took another 30 minutes to change), I would have not gotten hit.

UPDATE: I got a new car.  Same monthly payments. No down payment. JUST. WHAT. MY. MOM. HAD. PRAYED. FOR.

I don’t know how else any of these things could have lined up so perfectly.  It’s not karma (I’m not that good of a person.).  It’s not a coincidence (The causal connection is apparent.  I should have been killed.).  It’s ALL God from the accident to the Enterprise location to virtually no impact on my financial situation.

I thank God for not only sparring my life, but for sparring my family from the grief they would have experienced had I perished.  Remember, I’m graduating grad school on May 13th.  Many of my family members will be travelling to celebrate with me.  Can you fathom the devastation everyone would have felt to have to turn party decorations into funeral plans?!  I’m so utterly thankful that the Lord sparred my family.  I told God that “thank you” is not a big enough word.  It’s inadequate.  There’s not an adequate expression of my thankfulness to our Lord and Savior.  But I can live right.  I can let everyone know that I’m not here by any cause or fault of my own.  AND. I. WILL.

I encourage you to look up the verses I mentioned above, and I leave you with this one:

But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

-Micah 7:7

Author: Marlene Dior

Marlene was born in Lexington, Kentucky. Although, raised as a "military brat" thus having grown up in many places, Lexington will always be home (Go Big Blue #BBN ;-) ). She received her Bachelor's of Arts from Georgia State University. She went on to complete her Master's of Education from Texas Southern University here in Houston, Texas. Most recently, God showed favor on Marlene in that she earned her Doctor of Education degree from Texas Southern University. Currently, Marlene serves as an assistant principal for a public, urban school district in the greater Houston area.