A young woman was driving a car very fast. Very fast. She had made a right turn onto the street on which we were traveling into the lane opposite us, but she must have clipped the curb. Her car became airborne. The flight was precipitously interrupted by a telephone pole on the corner of the intersection.
The young girl was thrown from the car onto the middle of the street. By the time we had watched all this occur we were actually at the scene of the accident. I told my husband to pull over in a nearby driveway and I ran to aid the girl.
You see, I carry in my wallet something that causes me to always be reading to lend aid. It is from the Alabama Board of Nursing and it states I am a Registered Nurse. In my mind, part of being a nurse is being "always ready."
As I approached the girl, she was seizing. Without any medical equipment I felt helpless to aid her in anyway, but I could do that one thing that is the first in emergency care -- and the most important -- I held her airway open. I talked to her as I did this and tried to reassure her that help was coming and that she would be taken to the hospital soon.
It was only a few minutes before the EMTs arrived. I told them what we had witnessed, what little I had done and gladly released my care to them. I climbed back in the car and we started back on vacation.
As Christians, we have something in us that causes us to be "always ready" as well. The Holy Spirit lives in us and causes us to be always ready. This doesn't mean we rush to the scene of an accident, but our hearts should always be ready to pray for someone. As my husband said recently, we should be ready to pray "at the drop of a heart."
Whenever a person comes into our mind, we can lift up a quick prayer for them. It doesn't have to be a long or complicated prayer. I am convinced the Lord would have us to pray more like children, simply and to the point. In fact, this is part of the instruction on prayer the Lord Jesus gave His disciples:
"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking," (Matthew 6:7).
Sometimes we may even pass strangers in traffic or walking down the street. We don't know why, but they touch our heart. We don't know anything about them, and may feel helpless to pray -- much like I felt helpless with that girl out on the street. But our Father in Heaven knows everything about that person. We can do the most important thing of all for them, pray. Even a simple prayer that the Lord will work in their lives where He sees need is a powerful tool in the hands of the Almighty.
So let us always be ready and look for opportunities to intervene, to "save lives" through prayer. May we use this great gift and privilege the Lord has given us to reach out to those around us. We will not know until Heaven what the Lord has done with those simple, sincere and succinct prayers offered on the behalf of strangers.
Twenty years later, and I still remember the young girl thrown out onto the street. When her face comes to my mind I still pray for her. I have no idea what happened to her after her accident. One of the most dramatic moments in her life seemed to be just a blimp in ours. But God knows her and for years I have been "always ready" to care for her in a better sense to give her the best care I can give. . . prayer.
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,
and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication
for all saints;"
(Ephesians 6:18)
No comments:
Post a Comment