IMPACT by Joylene M Bailey

I was 23 and seven months pregnant with my firstborn when God or His angels stepped in between the car I was in and the one heading straight for me.

I can still see the grill of that vehicle racing through a red light, aimed right at the passenger door where I was sitting. Time seemed to slow down as I closed my eyes and braced for the impact.

Instead, I heard WHOOOOSH and felt an intense gust of wind blow against my door. I opened my eyes to see that by some strange occurrence we were on the other side of the intersection. I twisted in my seat, as much as my pregnant belly would allow, to look for the car that had almost hit us. It was nowhere to be seen. The whole event had happened in the blink of an eye.

My husband hadn’t heard the whoosh, hadn’t felt the gust of wind. He had swerved but not enough to evade a collision. It was as though we had skipped ahead in time and that the event I KNOW happened, had not occurred at all. The memory is so vivid to me. Even after all these years I can’t explain it, but I know without a doubt that God intervened that day.

I believe it was because He still had plans for me, for the baby I carried, and for two more yet to be born. He intended for me to raise three strong, independent girls to women who would impact their world and the Kingdom. He intended for them to raise children of their own, to impact the Kingdom and their future world. This is no small thing.

There have been countless times in my life when God’s strategic providences were evident. Not all of them have been as time-warping as this one. But each event has added a brick to my wall of faith, making it stronger every time, so that when life takes a dive into the muck I can trust that He sees the Big Picture from His vantage point. And I can keep slogging it out in the sludge below, knowing He will help me through in His own timing.

He can be trusted.

He can be trusted with my writing too.

On those days when I wonder why in the world I think I’m a writer (which, to be honest, is most days), I can trust that there must be some reason He gave me this passion. He must need my voice for something. So I will write, and trust Him with whatever He wants to do with it.

Maybe, just maybe, God intervened that day so that I would be around to write this post. To give Him glory for the unimaginable yet very real impact He has on all of us who are privileged to call Him Father.

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Joylene writes from her home in Edmonton where she lives with her Cowboy, her third strong, independent daughter, and a cat named Calvin. She writes at 

Scraps of Joy.

Photos by Pixabay.

God's Intervention -- Martha Fehr

 


We're pleased to have Martha Fehr, one of our InScribe members, as our Guest Blogger today on InScribe Writers Online.




“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord." Isaiah 55:8


I know that my puny brain can’t begin to understand all there is to know about our awesome God, but I’ve been wondering about some things: How directly is the God of the universe involved in the details of the lives of believers and non-believers?

In reading through Genesis, I’ve come across two stories that give us some insight about this. In chapter 16 we have the story of how God intervened in the life of Hagar, Sarai’s maid when she fled due to harsh treatment from Sarai. She probably deserved this treatment, because, since conceiving a child with Abram, she had become arrogant and was no longer a submissive maid, perhaps even taunting Sarai about her inability to conceive.

After fleeing, Hagar ended up resting by a spring of water in the wilderness where the Angel of the Lord found her and questioned her as to what she was doing. When Hagar admitted that she was fleeing from her mistress, Sarai, the Angel of the Lord asked her to return to her mistress and be submissive. He also promised that the child she carried in her womb would be the first of many descendants.

Hagar then called the name of the Lord, “You Are the God Who Sees” and she followed that statement up with a question, "Have I also seen Him who sees me?"

What a powerful couple of sentences! Hagar ended up in the wilderness due to the sin in her life, yet the Angel of the Lord found her, comforted her, promised her a blessing, and gave her instructions for her next step! We don’t know if Hagar had embraced the God of Abraham and Sarah, but God intervened directly in her life.

In Genesis 20 we read how God intervened in the life of Abimelech, the king of Gerar. By this time, God had renamed Abram, Abraham, and Sarai, Sarah. Since Abraham lied and said that Sarah was his sister, Alimelech saw her beauty and sent for her. However, before Abimelech could take Sarah as wife, God intervened to warn him that she was someone else’s wife and that he was in trouble for having taken her.

Abimelech pleaded his innocence and claimed he had done this in the integrity of his heart. Graciously, God answered Abimelech in a dream, saying, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her...."

This is truly a unique passage. We do not know if the people in this place knew God; Abraham seemed to think not as he replied, "Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place..." Yet God intervened to stop Abimelech from sinning against Abraham and Sarah, but especially from sinning against God Himself.

I think Hagar's statement, "Have I also seen Him Who sees me?" is significant! Do you and I recognize God's intervention in our lives and are we drawn closer to God when we do?

I’m wondering too, "How often does God intervene to stop me from sinning against Him, especially when He sees that the intentions of my heart are to honor Him? And because God sees the big picture, are there times when He keeps me from sinning in ways that would not only grieve Him, but would also affect other people negatively?