Can God be glorified in a car accident? A lesson in faith and honesty.

"All things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28).

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).

"Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me" (Psalm 50:15).


The answer is yes. He allows things to happen in our lives for His reason that we will grow and He will receive the glory. Case in point- my car accident on June 10th. Let me actually first back this story up to last February so that I can bridge the gap between two events that I feel The Lord used to strengthen my faith in Him.

In February of this year I got a letter in the mail to be called for jury duty. I did not think too much of this and I was kind of excited to go sit on a trial for a day. Well the county in which I live jury duty is a month long jury term. My term was the entire month of March. There were five trials that I was to attend. This all taking place when things were so slow at work that they were begging for us to go home (without pay in my case). Luckily I was excused from all trials that month, but I did miss a considerable amount of time from work waiting at the courthouse to be excused. I could not figure out why God would send this to me considering what we were going through financially. Then one day driving home from the courthouse I felt overwhelming peace come over me. "Have faith" He said to me. His voice alone gave me faith that this was for a reason and everything would work out.

Because of the lack of work and jury duty, we fell behind on our van payment. Then again....and again. By May we were almost three months behind on our payment and constantly getting calls throughout the day of repossession threats. I prayed and prayed for deliverance...but it seemed like all I heard was the wind and crickets. His "Have faith" was sounding more like "Yeah, right!".

Then it hit me. An idea? No. A green 1993 Ford Ranger? Yes. It hit me so hard that my back felt it...and the van's back REALLY felt it. Obviously the other guy's insurance handled the repairs and medical expenses. I was actually hoping it was totaled so that we could just walk away from it and the three months behind that we were. I was sure this was the reason why God allowed this to happen. WRONG. The van was not totaled. So now we were three months behind on a van that was in a body shop. Can they repo a vehicle when it is locked up in a body shop? Not to mention I missed time from work because of my injury. Now we REALLY couldn’t pay on our van.
But for some strange reason, in a situation that stresses and depresses most people, I was at peace the entire time. I even announced on Facebook before I knew the outcome of all this that "God would be glorified". I had faith and I knew this was for a reason, that we would not fall for it, and that the glory would be His. Then God said "I told you to have faith. Now watch me work."

We received a phone call from the medical division of the other guy's insurance. They wanted to pay my medical bills up to July 2nd (I had already been “OK’D” by the doctors at this point), pay for my two days that I missed, and pay me a settlement fee. The settlement fee was the exact amount we needed to pay up on our van. At this point I realized that through an odd way, God answered our prayers. I was in tears and speechless. I couldn't even thank God because I was so shaken up by His power. The glory was His. Praise The Lord!!!
That was my lesson in faith. Faith was something I have always had trouble with. Doubt was always Satan's tool for me. Not anymore. Thank You Jesus!

I think that the ultimate reason that we were blessed with this victory and God was glorified was because we did exactly what we all should do when we are faced with storms and trials. We announced the presence of God before the battle began. Did not David announce the presence of God and that he would be delivered against Goliath? “The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” (1 Samuel 17:37, NLT)

Now for a little lesson in honesty. Right after the accident I heard it all. From "Sue him!", to "DO NOT settle with his insurance company. Get as much as you can out of them...even thousands of dollar$$$$." Chris....milk them for everything. Fake your injuries. Roll over and die. Get rich quick. Blah! Blah! Blah! Thanks for the friendly advice, but I am so glad I listen to The Lord Almighty and not worldly people. Why would I take this answer to my prayers and tell God "Thanks for answering my prayers, but it's not good enough. I want more money?" The other driver made a simple mistake that many drivers make. I was hurt with minor injuries, checked out, OK‘d, and that was that. His insurance done everything they were supposed to do without trying to weasel out and were honest. So why should I repay honesty with dishonesty? For greed? Isn't that what’s wrong with the world today? Greed? Why should I beat the situation to death and beat this other driver to death over a mistake that I know he wishes we both could take back? I know that if I were in his shoes I would not want the other guy to take advantage of me and my insurance company. Shouldn't we "Do unto others as we would have them do unto us?" I think If the people who wished me dishonesty would read the "words in red" in the New Testament, they would understand where I am coming from. God had already proven to me and shown to me His will in this matter. He had shown me that His will said "It is finished".