Inspirational Christian Stories
by Phillips

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 Secret Weapon
 Miracles
 Raising the dead
 Apricot Miracle
 Our Gracious God
 Celebrate
 Healing
 God's timely provision
 Prepare to be amazed
 Loved - Never forgotten
 The Foggy Photo
 The Lord is my helper
 Just around the corner
 Hide and Seek
 God Speaks
 How will God provide?
 Guiding a persons thoughts
 Affluent: Grafted in
 The Redemptive Pattern
 I will carry you
 Valley of Achor
 Desires of your heart
  Drive Safely
 The name above all names
 Sword of the Spirit
 Land Of Plenty
 "Come"
 Stolen
 Children
 You are my witnesses
 New Life
 Moshia, Or
 Long life
 Love one another
 Travelling
 God the greater giver

 Bio summary

Just around the corner

     

2006
In 2005 I made an image called "Disaster is just around the corner" because I thought it was, although I was not sure who for.
God had impressed upon me the bible verses about how short life is and I began to think that disaster was just around the corner. I saw a dead kangaroo on the side of the road. I thought that disaster had been "just around the corner" for it. I thought that disaster was just like a car accident I had been in in 1997 when I came around a corner and hit flood waters, which caused the van I was in to spin and roll. December 17, 2005, I uploaded my image to an online gallery, hoping that the people who needed to know how short life is would see it. I pondered this word with some anxiety for some months then reminded myself that I did not need to be anxious because I am God's and He is mine. A few days later - (March 2006) I was later than normal setting out to work and the sun was higher at this time of morning. I often pray as I drive the half hour or so to work along the highway. I had just finished praying because I was about to turn a corner and exit the highway. The sun blinded me. I couldn’t see what was up ahead. I was horrified as I caught a glimpse of what I thought was a bus in front of me....very white. I imagined all the children in the bus as the glass shattered in a circular web like pattern and the vehicle came through the screen. My head flew forward. It wasn’t a bus. It was a parked truck. I sat in the car stunned for a long time. When I did get out I couldn’t stand up for long. My legs felt as though they would collapse. The police arrived. Peter and Aimee arrived and I was taken to hospital.......
When I saw the images my daughter had taken of the car I thought of Job: "thus far and no further". Disaster can only lick at my heels because the Almighty One has a different perspective concerning things that happen on earth. He brings good things out of what we might think of as disasters. He protects those who come to Him for refuge from losing the most valuable things and I am convinced that a relationship with Him is the "treasure of treasures" more valuable than assets, even the asset of life on earth. We are like leaves in the wind.
I decided to check the bible for words about disasters but found none. I searched out the meaning of the word and found that it's original meaning was "unfavorable position of the astrological bodies". The sun certainly had been in an unfavorable position for me!
There have been a number of painful consequences of the accident but one of the good things God has brought out of this "disaster" was tilting my pelvis forward into a more comfortable position. It had been tilted backwards in a previous accident! Another good thing was that the insurance paid for a newer car. We had been thinking of selling the old car but would only have received half what we ended up getting from the insurance.

I think that one thing near death experiences can do is take away the fear of death. They can help us to put our life on earth into perspective, the perspective of eternity. I thought back to the 4th car accident I had had when I felt I had lost so much, including my maturity in Christ. I had lost much but gained an understanding that there was no way we can earn our salvation. There is nothing we can boast of because every good thing we have or can do is a gift from God. Even our ability to love and our maturity in Christ is a gift. We cannot boast in it. It will not save us and can be a temporary ability/gift/knowledge. We are dependant upon the mercy of God and his arms are open wide longing to receive those who want Him.

From time to time people ask me why questions about disasters. I ask the question, "If we build our homes in an area that we know is prone to earthquakes, why do we blame God for the pain we experience when one comes, especially if we have never asked Him if we should be there in the first place?" Why do we expect earth to be heaven when we have a mortal body?

Trouble is unpleasant. We will experience pain because we have been created with that ability. However unpleasant trouble is, and how angry we may feel that a good God has allowed it, God uses it. Isaiah gives us a glimpse of the benefit of this aspect of human experience when he quotes God saying " I have chosen/tested you in the hard place/furnace of trouble/affliction." (Isaiah 48:12). Earth is this place. Earth is earth, not heaven. Being a Christian doesn't exclude us from all the troubles and difficulties of life on earth. We can only experience glimpses of what is perfect for now. Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart/cheer up! I have overcome the world". (John 16:33). Trouble gives us the opportunity to see how awesome God is and how human we are....how much we need a saviour. It helps us not to get too comfortable down here but to look forward to something far better - heaven and an imortal body.