A tragic accident after a series of premonitions and anxious prayer. Is God real or is life coincidental? Does God care or are all things just random? ♦
The young teenager believes in God but struggles with teenage angst and rebellion. His parents are strong Christians who take prayer very seriously as they pray for their children and community. Godly rebellion, obedience, and uncanny circumstances collided last weekend as that family experienced a very real and intense lesson in how God intervenes in lives for purposes we can’t fathom.
A lesson that involved life and death.
Like a rebellious Jonah who initially resisted God’s orders to go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-3), this young teenager knew God, even “talked to the Lord” in prayer, but was actively moving in a direction opposite of the desires of his parents in terms of friends, church participation, and overall attitude toward the Christian faith of his upbringing.
His parents showed him unconditional love and gave him freedom to work through his faith and relationship with God. Their prayers never ceased for him however. And while their strong sense was that God was doing a work on this young teen, they lamented his growing separation and resistance.
He was checking out on God at age 16.
A Holy Premonition
Last week the young teen told his mother that he felt a very strong and unnerving premonition that something big was going to happen – something involving him and a big decision. He could explain nothing further other than the heavy burden of a large impending event involving a choice of some sort.
His mother could only comfort him with assurance that she would pray for him, which she did at that moment.
His mother knew the feeling though, beyond basic intuition. She’s knows and has witnessed the Lord moving and working in mysterious ways. She’s seen and has experienced it all her life. What exactly was happening in this case she did not know. But that God is alive and working she trusted with all her heart.
She and her husband kept praying for their youngest son. What she “heard” from God in prayer was that “I’ve got his back.”
Holy Coincidence?
The family attended the USC vs. Cal football game last Thursday night. The younger son was not interested in going with them so stayed home. At one point during the game, his mother had a very strong instinct to pray for her young teen at home. She and her husband prayed.
During this time, their young teen met up with some friends that evening. He was asked to jump in a car with some friends on their way to visit others. As he was approaching the car, he had a distinct new premonition:
“If you get in that car, you will not come back.”
He startled and hesitated, even asking in his own mind “What?” The same words came to him distinctly, not audibly but mentally, like a very clear thought in his head:
“If you get in that car, you will not come back.”
Nevertheless, he moved forward to get into the crowded car. At that time the young female driver’s cellphone rang. She spoke briefly and then hung up. She then told the young teen there was a change of plans, that another friend was to be picked up and that they couldn’t take him at this point.
He saw them drive off. Later that evening the young female driver was texting while driving and drove her and 3 passengers off a mountain road killing a 17-year-old teenage girl in the car wearing no seat belt.
Shaken and Stirred
The high school community is reeling. This was my hometown where my oldest sister, the praying one, still lives.
She is the young teenage boy’s mother. He is my nephew.
He is understandingly shaken and stirred by the series of events. Indeed he has much to think about. However, we can all only conclude what we know from Biblical scriptures, history, and observational experience: that God has plans and purposes that we are at a loss to fathom.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:9
We can know also that God is alive and in communication with those who call out to Him, and even to those who would rebel. He answers our prayers or does not answer our prayers according to His purposes, not ours. We can obey or disobey – it is our free will and choice. But He loves us and has a larger purpose and plan.
And while good and bad things happen all around us, even to the undeserving, we can trust that He intervenes as His will dictates. It is on us to be paying attention.
We would do best to get in line and submit to God who is way, way bigger than what we can ever think.
Are you paying attention to the God who loves you?
_______________________________
For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth. – Psalm 47:2
Categories: Devotion, Faith, Prayer, Prophecy
Confessional Prayer in DANIEL 9 (Part 1) 
Biblical Viewpoint 
Leave a Reply