(From the devotional book God Will Make A Way)
Late one evening, Don Moen received a phone call
with devastating news: his wife's sister had lost
her oldest son in an automobile accident. Craig
and Susan Phelps and their four sons were traveling
through Texas on their way to Colorado when their
van was struck broadside by an eighteen-wheeler
truck. All four boys were thrown from the van.
Craig and Susan located their sons by their cries,
one boy was lying in the ditch, another in an
area wet from melted snow. Nearby was his brother
who landed by a telephone pole. All were seriously
injured, but when Craig, a medical doctor, reached
Jeremy, he found him lying by a fence post with
his neck broken. There was nothing Craig could
do to revive him.
When Don received the news of this tragedy a few
hours later, he recalls, My whole world came to
a standstill, but I had to get on a plane the
next morning and fly to a recording session that
had been scheduled for several weeks. Although
I knew Craig and Susan were hurting, I couldn't
be with them until the day before the funeral.
During the flight the morning after the accident,
God gave me a song for them: God will make a way
where there seems to be no way. He works in ways
we cannot see. He will make a way for me. The
song was based upon Isaiah 43:19 NASB Behold,
I will do something new, now it will spring forth;
will you not be aware of it? I will even make
a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.
This song would bring comfort to Craig and Susan
when all hope seemed lost. It touched the hurt
in their hearts with hope and encouragement. Don
received a letter from Susan in which she quoted
Isaiah 43:4 NASB: Since you are precious in My
sight, since you are honored and I love you, I
will give other men in your place and other peoples
in exchange for your life.
Susan wrote, We've seen the truth of the scripture.
When Jeremy's friends learned that he had accepted
Jesus into his life before he died, many of them
began to ask their own parents how they could
be assured of going to heaven when they died.
The accident also prompted Craig and Susan into
a deeper walk with the Lord as well as into new
avenues of ministry. Craig began teaching Sunday
school at their church and Susan became active
in Women's Aglow, sharing with various groups
her story and the Lord's provision in her time
of sorrow.
She has since said, "The day of the accident,
when I got out of the van, even before I knew
our son was dead, I knew I had a choice. I could
be bitter and angry or I could totally accept
God and whatever He had for us. I had to make
the decision fast. I've seen fruit come as a result
of that choice. If I had to, I'd do it again.
It's worth knowing others will go to heaven because
of what happened to Jeremy. God really did make
a way for us!"
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