A couple of years ago, I had an accident on a steep hill. I was riding a 4-wheel quad in the dark, up a hill I had previously gone up and down multiple times during the day. This particular trip was at night. What I didn’t know was that on a steep hill, the lights are pointed too far ahead of the quad, so I can't see how to navigate the trail's difficulties.

The steep hill gave way to rain erosion. As a result, the trail was high in the middle. Runoff eroded the sides. Part of the trail required riding up the right side, then switching to the left side to avoid getting caught in ruts. Without being able to see when to go from right to left, I miscalculated and ended up staying on the right side too long.

The quad dipped, and then, as I tried to accelerate to regain control, I was thrown off. I landed on my ribs on my backside. Narrowly missing my direct spine. Bent over backwards, and reeling side over side down the ravine until I came to a stop next to a blowdown tree. Knowing I was in an area without cell coverage, I got up and started walking toward an area with coverage to execute a prearranged plan for help.

In extreme pain, I limped up to where I had cell coverage and made my emergency call. Unbeknownst to me, God had already started working. That call triggered a chain of events that, unknown to me, activated an emergency search-and-rescue response by a local fire department. Then, as I continued to limp uphill to help, my phone rang. A person I hadn’t heard from in ages stayed on the line with me until help arrived.

My first help arrived on his 4-wheel-drive quad. I couldn’t swing my leg up onto the quad, so I lay across it while he drove me to my car. I asked him to drive me to the hospital. When we arrived at the bottom of the long driveway, the rescue crew had just arrived. I attempted to downplay my injury, but my friend told them I could not lift my leg. The result was a helicopter ride to a trauma one hospital.

The result was a fractured right-sided transverse process of L1-L5 (a bone that sticks out of the vertebra and controls posture, bending, rotation, and stability). Additionally, all my right-side ribs were fractured in multiple places.

I was 69 years old. I had just started my journey with Jesus. Literally, six years into the journey. My first instinct was to be proud of how I fought to stay conscious and walked to where I could initiate my emergency plan. Proud that I could withstand the discomfort I was in.

In the 40-minute flight to the hospital, I calmed down and began to pray. I thanked God for all the help that had arrived, for the skills they had, and that nothing too serious was damaged internally.

After all the commotion surrounding the arrival at the hospital, and I was in my room and sedated, I talked to God again. After thanking him for not being seriously injured, it dawned on me how I got up that hill. God was with me. God helped me stand up. God was helping me walk up that steep hill. God reminded me that I had an emergency plan right where my cell service came back. God had that man call me and talk to me until help arrived. God made sure I got to the hospital. God had plans for me.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

As children’s pastors, you undoubtedly worry about not only the children you are reaching, but those you have not reached. I was one of those unreached children. My parents dropped me off at church and picked me up an hour later. Eventually, stopping altogether. Yet God NEVER abandoned me. He patiently waited until my heart was ready. He knew. He believed.

Your job is enormous enough without worrying about those you cannot reach. Have faith that God is doing His work even when you can’t.

Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened”.

Phil Parks is a Pastoral Counselor, Author, and past Adjunct Faculty Member with Cuyahoga Community College, and Guest Speaker for both Wright State University & University of Dayton. He recently founded Parenting For Adulthood. His passion is for helping people improve in business, life, and spiritually. You can find articles from Phil at www.parentingforadulthood.org