Here for a reason...

Yesterday our pastor finished his "One Month to Live" series. It's been a great series! Very thought-provoking. I think more of us should live as though we only had one month left. There would be an amazing revival of the Spirit in people's lives, not to mention an amazing out-pouring of ourselves to others.

A quote from a song played by our Worship Band says:

"If today was your last day,
Tomorrow would be too late."

Think about that, folks. If today was your last day to walk on earth, all your plans for tomorrow won't happen. TODAY is all you've got!

One question Pastor Joe asked the congregation (about 2,000 people in the service we attend) was this:

Are any of you supposed to be dead? For instance, should you have died in a car accident but didn't?

I raised my hand.

Here's the story:

When I was five years old, our family owned a VW Bug. I attended half-day kindergarten across town, so my mom, dad or oldest brother would come pick me up, usually in the Bug. My spot on those days was the front seat. My mom says I always rode in the front seat.

But not sitting down.

I almost always stood up in the front passenger seat so I could see out the window.

One day my mom picked me up and we stopped at the grocery store. She called home from a pay phone (no cell phones back in the Stone Age, ya know) and spoke to my brother about something. Maybe checking to see if she had a certain ingredient or whatever. I don't know. What I do know is that I wanted to talk to him, but Mom said no.

Well, you can guess what I did.

I pouted. Big time! When we finished our shopping and returned to the car, I flopped down on the back seat. I lay there and pouted the whole way home.

The street we lived on (Mom still lives there) was a dirt road off a main two-lane highway called Airport Road. While still on Airport Road, Mom turned on her blinker and slowed the car to a stop while she waited for on-coming traffic before turning down our street. Little did she know what was coming up behind us.

The man had been at a business luncheon and was drunk. (Years later he was killed in a car accident. Yes, he was drunk.) He was flying down the road. He probably never saw our VW Bug waiting to turn.

I don't remember anything about the crash itself. I have a few vague memories afterwards. My mom suffered a broken neck and a broken back. Thank God above, she was not paralyzed. Or killed.

I had bumps and bruises and a possible concussion, though I fought going to the doctor, so no one took me to be examined. But that's it. Because I was laying down in the back seat of the car, pouting, I wasn't seriously injured.

But what if I had been in my usual place--standing in the front seat of the car? I would not be here today. I'm sure of it.

About eight or nine years ago, I was cooking dinner one evening. I was going through a rough time in my life, as we all do at one time or another. I wondered if my life made a difference. God brought the memory of that car accident to me, even though I hadn't thought of it in ages. In my spirit, He made it clear that He saved me that day. He saved me for a reason.

He saved me for a purpose.

I'm here for a purpose. And the deepest prayer of my heart is that I honor God and His faithfulness to me by living out that purpose every single day.

What about you? Do you have a story? I bet you do. We're all here for a purpose!