How Tragedy turns into Truimph.. (repost)

This is a repost from sometime back because my friend from “Down Under,” Francoise wanted to hear more about it. I mentioned before the tragic car accident I had in 1987 and for those who haven’t heard, here it is.

I was delivering newspapers for the Birmingham News in Birmingham, AL. I was a graduate student at the Univeristy of Alabama @ Birmingham. I was paying my way thru college delivering 4 paper routes. I had just bought an engagement ring for Cassandra (my lovely wife of 18 years). Cassandra and I were studying at my apartment with Bob Webb (my roomate) when I received a call from a customer whose dog ate their paper. Why that was my fault, I’ll never know. I went to deliver them another one, but by this time it was dark. I was driving down one of the mountains in Birmingham (Homewood), listening to my Allies Cassette when an object crashed on my windshield out of nowhere. I slamed on the brakes and the object flew through the air about 15 feet in front of me. I leaped out of the car only to see a man lying on the pavement. Then a young lady yelled at me, “you’ve killed him.” A man literally jumped on my car. He had committed suicide. Unfortunately he died a few days later.

This was the hardest thing I have ever faced. I cried in my shower for weeks to come–maybe even months. I still have a hard time driving at night. Whenever I see a TV show or movie that shows a person being hit by a car it brings back bad memories.

But right then in the midst of tragedy God was at work. I had been attending Shades Mountain Baptist Church for years, but Cassandra was a member of Dawson Memorial Baptist in Homewood, AL. You know how it is when you are dating, you end up at your girlfriends church and I was no different. I had been going to Dawson eventhough I was a member of Shades. The first people to arrive at the scene of my accident was an ministry team from Dawson. One of them was an Associate Pastor there. They did so much that week it was unbelievable. They ministered to me in a great time of need.
The people at Dawson took care of me all week so I decided to join the church that Sunday. I was already going there, I may as well get involved with what God was doing. Little did I know the team from Dawson was ministering to the girlfriend of the man who committed suicide on my car all week long. Sunday morning during the invitation I walked down one isle of the church to join and the girlfriend of the man was walking down another to accept Christ into her life. The whole day was surreal. I still remember it like it was yesterday. The staff was crying and many others were too. God used an older couple that morning to minister to me because they had run over someone 2 months before.

It was a tragic event and I wish it had never happened. But God used it to lead a young lady to Christ. He used it to shape and mold me. He continues to use pain to shape me. I love Philip Yancey and his book “Where is God when it Hurts.” He says that pain is actually a good thing. Without it we would hurt ourselves. It warns us when we need to make adjustments. God has used my pain to help others. I have had the chance to minister to at least a half dozen people who have experienced similar accidents as I did. Only someone who has gone through something like this can understand. He has used it to make me more like Him. I am grateful that God loves me that much. Romans 8:28 says:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

I would rather this have never happened but in the midst of tragedy, God turned it into triumph!