Earlier this week I heard a story told by a police officer that had gotten called onto a scene of a really bad car rollover. He said that the mom was driving and there were four kids in the car. They were coming home from California and she had stayed awake all night to drive. She fell asleep and rolled the car numerous times. The two youngest girls (5 and 6) were hurt really bad and sent to a hospital in a helicopter. The mother and two older boys were taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital. Although they were all injured, they were all going to live because they had their seatbelts on that saved them from flying out of the vehicle. The officer continued on to tell how just 30 minutes earlier this same car had been pulled over for speeding. At that time three of the children did not have their seatbelts on.... before the officer let them continue on their way he made sure everyone was buckled up. That was probably a ticket the mother was grateful to pay for! What a miracle and a blessing- what a sign that Heavenly Father was watching out for that family.
Although I loved and thought this story was amazing, at the same time it has been a bit unsettling to me. The underlying thought I have had this week is, if Heavenly Father knew they were going to wreck and he even provided the seatbelt blessing- why would he continue to let the wreck happen that would leave this family with some very bad injuries.
After thinking about this a lot, I've decided that the seatbelt blessing resembles the Lord's Saving Grace. We are sent here to earth not to be saved from hard things or to be kept from making bad choices like speeding, or driving when we are tired. We have our agency to choose and we will also have many trials not brought about by our choices. Trials will happen, but our Father in Heaven will send his Grace, his Love, his Power -his seatbelt- to help us hold on, to save our lives, to get us through our most trying times, to let us know that he is there. So buckle up and hang on! The ride of life may not be easy, and we may get injured. But there are lessons we can learn and our spirits will be strengthened. Our Father in Heaven will be there to give us his Amazing Grace.
