2020 doesn’t mean what it used to. It seems like there’s nothing perfect about it. But this one thing I know. God is in control. Let me share a story about how I saw God’s hand intervene on a very imperfect night. (By the way, I have an exciting announcement for anyone who has ever dreamed of writing a book after the end of today’s post!)
It was a beautiful crisp February morning when Steve and I traveled from our college town of Chapel Hill, NC to Charlotte to announce our engagement to Steve’s family. The night before, God had decorated His creation with a dusting of snow and tipped the trees with shimmering ice sickles. All of nature looked as if it were dressed for a wedding ceremony. I was sure God had done this especially for me. Ice laden trees bowed their branches all along the highway as if to sing, “Here comes the bride.”
It was one of those Southern days that couldn’t decide if it was the end of winter or the beginning of spring. As the day wore on, the bright sun warmed the earth to melt the snow and de-ice the trees. However, by nightfall, the temperature began to drop.
Steve and I headed back to school about 7:00 that night. Just fifteen miles from the university, we approached a steep incline. We didn’t realize that the downhill side of the road was covered with a sheet of ice.
As we began our descent, our car hit the thin veneer and began to spin out of control.
“Steve! We’re going straight for that car,” I cried as we headed directly into a set of oncoming headlights.
Seeing there was nothing he could do, Steve took his hands off the steering wheel and cried out “Oh God! Help us!”
One second we were headed directly toward an oncoming car. The next we were sitting off the side of the road in a ditch, facing in the opposite direction. Our bodies were pinned safely back into our seats. We did not have on seat belts.
“How did we miss that car?” I asked. “Where did it go? How did we get in this ditch?”
Shaken, Steve simply replied. “There’s only one answer to those questions – God.”
My mind immediately thought of Elisha and God’s heavenly army of protecting angels. Elisha was a prophet in the Old Testament who warned Israel every time their nemesis, the king of Aram, was about to attack. The king was enraged and demanded to know the informant’s identity. How did Israel always know what he was about to do before he did it?
“Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom,” the king’s officers told him. So the king sent out an army of men to capture him. Listen to what happened when Elisha’s servant woke up the next morning and saw the King’s vast army surrounding them.
“When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.
“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:15-17)
When God lifted the veil that separates the visible from the invisible, Elisha’s servant caught a glimpse of the heavenly host that stood armed and ready to protect them. And those same angels are protecting God’s children today.
In the natural scheme of things, there is no way Steve and I could have avoided having a head-on collision with the other car that night. But I believe there was nothing “natural” about the incident. It was the supernatural protection of God that reached down from heaven, picked up our spinning car, and gently sat us off the side of the road facing backward. If we had landed in the ditch facing forward, the sheer impact of a sudden stop would have ricocheted out bodies through the windshield. No, there was nothing natural about any of this.
When I was a little girl, I used to sing the endless verses of He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands. “He’s got the itty-bitty baby, in His hands; He’s got my momma and my papa, in His hands; He’s got my brothers and my sisters, in His hands;” and on it goes. This year I’ve added another verse: He’s got 2020 in His hands.
And here’s one I’m singing today: “He’s got you and me sister, in His hands.” I don’t know of any other place I’d rather be. And in that, you can place your trust.
Dear Father, Thank You for protecting me. Thank You for the angels that you assign to watch over me. I can be at peace today knowing that my very life is in Your hands. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
What are you worried about today? Imagine taking those worries and cares and literally placing them in God’s hands. Read and meditate on the following verse: “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7 NLT).
2020 has been quite a year! Want to learn more about Trusting God in Trying Times? Click here for a FREE copy of my 7-Day Devotional to calm your soul and reassure your anxious heart.
Also, check out the laminated prayer cards to help you learn how to pray Scripture for your husband and children.
Now for the special announcement. I’m partnering with Lysa TerKeurst as a personal book proposal writing coach to 10 writers in The Book Proposal Bootcamp. Here’s a little bit about it.
• you finally did it!
• you overcame those obstacles to your writing dreams!
• you finally wrote that book proposal!
• you finally sent it off to a publisher!
• you finally had that moment where the publisher called and said YES!
This wild 2020 year doesn’t have to go down on record as being one of your most non-productive years to date! We have book contracts ready to be awarded to writers like you! Click on the registration button or visit www.thebookproposalbootcamp.com to learn more.
Comments 26
Thank you for such a beautiful story Sharon! Yes, that accident was a “miracle” story for sure.
Thank you for this word of hope Sharon! So needed right now! ❤
Wow wow what inspiring words of encouragement to start my day. Thsnk u
Thank u for this article it’s very inspiring
What a precious reminder of His care for us. 2020 has certainly been a year of trials, but I will have that song in my head all day now as a reminder! TFS!
Years ago when I was a teenager something very similar happened. 5 of us were on our way for a weekend in upstate New York. A tire on my friend’s car blew out. The car started swerving all over the road. I watched as she struggled with the wheel. Next thing, the car was turned around backwards on the median. No one was wearing a seatbelt; no one was hurt.
I never recognized that event for the miracle it was until I read your story today. Thank you!
What a beautiful reminder of God’s love and supernatural power to protect His beloved. Sharon, you bring Him glory through your life and ministry. I hope you come back to Ottawa soon! Much love to you and Mary and Gwen.
Thank you for such an encouraging devotional. This year has definitely been full of fear and uncertainty at times and I needed the reminder that God is still in control.
Thank you for this beautiful message. God’s angels truly do protect us in this crazy world. I’m so thankful for His word.
I have been pondering this 2020 thought over the last few week- the first part of the year there was such a push, massive prayer for the Lord to give us 2020 vision.
I believe he has, this has shown us how ugly this world is…..yet within us He is there! We are called to be the salt of the earth, the light in the darkness. He does have 2020 in his hands!
About 6 yrs ago. I took my 2 teen girls with me to a night church service an hr from home. It was winter and we were expecting snow. I said we wont stay long but I need to go. I had broken wipers on my van that didn’t work to great even when it rained. I said to them. Dont worry. We will be ok. Well I snowed a lot in that time i was there. We headed down the highway where it was ground covered snowing. I had those wipers on high and they just froze full of snow. It was also hailing. I had to stop the car and try to brake the ice that had gathered on the wipers. Started to drive again. And started to cry. God I need you now. And All if a sudden my wipers stopped working and as it hailed and snowed. It was like an umbrella opened over my front window and not a single drop hit till the moment I got off thw highway 15 mins from my house and the melted wipers went on without notice. My girls learned a lesson that day. God Always answers when we cry out to Him. Amen
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Wow and double wow!
I can relate…February 1996 I was on the highway driving to see family, very distressed with my husband leaving me. A sleepless 24 hours before getting on the road. I fell a sleep behind the wheel for a split second, I am guessing. Not sure how I woke up, but I did and I was headed toward the guard rail and that would be into the traffic on the other side. I really don’t know how my car straightened up and I was driving straight on the highway. I knew immediately that God was with me at that very moment and would see me through this very upsetting time in my life.
2020 has been a time to reflect. Putting things in perspective and trying to see the positive things in life. Took some time to wrap my head around everything going on in the world, and still working on it. But I keep reminding myself that God is with us and will see us through these uncertain times.
Thank you for your devotional today. Just another reminder we are in God’s hands.
Sharon, I lived through a similar experience. Came over a rise in the road one evening and two sets of headlights were coming toward me. I couldn’t veer right or left because of the embankments. Next thing I knew I was pulling into a driveway to battle the shakes. Have to come to the conclusion that God isn’t done with me yet! Thanks for sharing your experience and your thoughts. I really enjoy your emails. Blessings.
How wonderful to see this…several years ago (I was alone in my car) traveling back from Gatlinburg in a sudden icy storm to my home in SC. There were almost no other idiots on the interstate except me…I hit a patch of ice, lost all control of my car and immediately verbally shouted “God save me”…..I crossed the two lanes in the direction I was headed, sideways, across the median and into opposite direction…directly in the line of an ongoing panel truck…I had no control…but God did…I have no idea how that truck missed me…I went down an embankment toward some huge trees…still going very fast…I stopped inches from the tree….no damage to me or my car…I stayed down that embankment for over two hours, called 911 and finally someone came in a tow truck and pulled me out…..I will forever be thankful that God heard me and sent a protector…never had any doubt.
Thank you for sharing I’m begging the Lord do mighty things today. Please pray for my nephew he is 22 a bright young man with a heart devoted to God. Is having a breakdown we imagine due to stress as he is doing his masters. But has a family history of mental illness on the other side of the family. We have seen the signs he is doing bizarre things. Please pray today goes to the doctor willingly. His parents finally realized there is something really wrong with his behavior. We are trying to avoid tragedy. I know my God can heal him. He loves dearly the Lord. He thinks he is doing things for God. I’m so heartbroken for my family. His name is Allen. God has him in His hands. Thank you very much.
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Lord, I pray for Janet’s nephew today. I know the heartbreak of mental illness. I pray for wisdom for the doctors. If his body is lacking something it needs to work properly, I pray you give the doctors wisdom to know exactly what that is. We know that you can heal all diseases, and that you use doctors to help your children. Calm his nerves. Calm his fears. Help him to think clearly and to refuse the lies of the enemy who attacks us at our weakest lowest points. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Thank you Sharon. I shared this devotional with the ladies of my group last night. What a perfect Word of God, encouragement to keep us focused on Him because He has the whole world in His hands. They all were touched. Thank you
What an amazing devotion. I am singing that beautiful song and adding He’s Got 2020 in His Hands! Praise God. Thank you for your words of encouragement and promises.
Just today I read Psalm 68:20 NASB – “God is to us a God of deliverances; and to God the Lord belong escapes from death.” Praising Him!!
Hello Sharon,
That was such an inspiring story! A miracle that only God could perform. It is such an encouragement in a time such as this “2020”. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you sharon for this encouraged story, it would have been only God on that night. He owns our life in His hand. Our now, yesterday and future is in His hand.
From a fellow Tarheel alum. I needed this message today. God’s got this and us in his hands! Thank you for being His mouthpiece.
OHH Sharon what an encouraging article, and beautiful story. My husband and I are facing a similar situation with our landlord where we have our business and since this summer the lord has been proving to us that the whole issue is in his hands. Yes 2020 is definitely in his hands no matter what we are facing.
God bless you greatly and thank you for all you are.
Dear Sharon, I am doing your 7 day bible study on YouVersion, Take Hold of the Faith You Long For. It has been life changing for me!. I cannot believe this is the 1st I have ever heard of you! How have I missed knowing you and your amazing gift? What I do know is that God puts certain people in our lives at certain time. For such a time as this, He has put you in my life at this time, and I am so grateful. God has truly given you the gift of writing and helping people to step into all God has for us. I thank Him for this! Also grateful I found your blog!
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It so nice to “meet” you!