If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you. – Psalm 91:9-10
By Beverly Lomosad
David Beezer, a football coach at Christian High School in San Diego, California, has cruised the Colorado River with his boat countless times. On this late afternoon of July 2016, he was at the helm once again for yet another boat ride with family and friends, trying to squeeze the most out of the last few days before the start of football practice. The river glistened in the sun as the boat sliced through the waters at 40 miles an hour oblivious of the danger lurking beneath: a sandbar that had recently developed lay just inches under the water’s surface. David spotted it too late to stop. The impact, as the boat crashed into the sandbar at full speed, slammed David’s throat against the steering wheel, bending it and fracturing his larynx (voice box) and airway. He could immediately feel his breathing becoming constricted.
The severity of his laryngeal fracture should have killed David, doctors said. But God is good, and He intervened. First, David’s wife, Shannon, was able to connect to 911, a welcome surprise since all of their previous attempts over the years to use their phone from that part of the river had been unsuccessful. Then there was an off-duty deputy sheriff who, after learning of the accident, scoured the river with his own boat to find the crash site then rushed David back to the dock while the rescue boat was still 20 minutes away. The 911 call and the good-samaritan deputy sheriff were key in David getting the crucial emergency help that he needed on time. At the hospital, doctors placed him in an induced coma for five days, giving his airway time to heal. When he awoke, the trauma doctor told him matter-of-factly, “There’s only one reason you’re alive: G-O-D.”
Life is full of twists and turns. One moment David was enjoying family time. The next, he was fighting to breathe and stay alive. Jesus once told a parable of a farmer who planted good seed; but then, in the dead of night, when everyone was asleep, the enemy – the devil – sowed weeds among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30). The parable makes for a good analogy to David’s story. The spot on the river that he had gone out boating was nothing unfamiliar to him – except that, while he was asleep, so to speak, a sandbar had developed underwater. As he ran right smack into it, an accident ensued that, had not been for the grace of God, would have claimed his life while his wife, kids, and friends watched. The Bible is clear: there’s an enemy out there always on the prowl for someone to attack (1 Peter 5:8). The enemy, whose name is Satan (1 Chronicles 21:1), is most wicked, the source of all evil. But God, the source of everything good (James 1:17), neither sleeps nor slumbers (Psalm 121:4), and He protects those who seek refuge in Him (Psalm 91:1-15). Thanks to the work of Jesus Christ, the devil has been defeated. With God, no weapon the devil has formed and thrown will prosper in anyone’s life (Isaiah 54:17).
CALL TO ACTION
A life with God starts with a relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
- PRAY OUT LOUD: “Father in heaven, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that he died on the cross for my sins. I ask you to forgive me of all of my sins. I believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with my mouth that Jesus is my Savior and Lord. Amen.”
- WHAT’S NEXT: Be part of a good, Bible-based church.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the New International Version of the Bible.