On January 4, 2015 I read of a plane crash in Kentucky with
one survivor, a young girl of only 7 years of age. It is reading of this
child's survival, that the Lord began to teach and review lessons I had
learned over the past year. This is why I am writing this because this
little girl was an example for every church and every Christian, she
both encouraged me and she inspired me. So here is her story and my
lessons.
Her father's private plane left Florida to head
back home to Indiana, on board was her father, her mother, her 10 year
old sister, and her 14 year old cousin. Then tragedy struck the plane
went down in a wooded secluded area in Kentucky. The young girl was
clothed only in shorts and t-shirt, was barefoot when she climbed out of
an upside down plane to find her whole family had died from the crash.
Many 7 year olds would have caved in and later died of exposure to the
cold Kentucky air. Yet, not this one, suffering with broken bones and
cuts and bruises, she made a make shift torch from the fire to the
planes wing, as set out in the cold and dark to find a house with a
light on, and find the help she needed. When I read her story, I saw
such a determination in this child, that she did not let grief stop her,
she did not let pain stop her, she did not let cold stop her, she did
not let the darkness stop her, nor did she let the unknown stop her. She
walked barefoot through a rough wooded terrine did not know where she
was nor did she know where she was going, one thing she knew she had the
hope of finding a light on, she walked 3/4 of a mile emerged from the
woods to find a light on at a house. So what did this teach us?
This
little girl had more determination to continue steadfast, moving
forward than most Christians do today. Her goal was to find help, and
she would not allow herself to be moved by what was happening around
her, she pressed forward to find the light which would be her help. It
is said that if she had walked in any other direction she would have
walked farther to find a house. I do not know why tragedy struck this
family, but I do know this God said "This child will not die today" and
Jesus led her in the right direction to find help. That leads me to the
next lesson she taught me:
I truly believe that God's
grace alone spared her life and I believe He has great plans for this
little girl, I believe He led her all the way through the woods in the
direction she needed to go to find help. I also believe that God is a
miracle working God and could have picked her up and placed her at the
door of the house, yet He didn't. He was with her yet she still had to
walk the path, and though she walked it suffering, He never left her. As
Christians sometimes we think that just because we are walking the path
God has placed us on, the path should be free of suffering, and yet, it
isn't. Lesson for me is this: Just because I am in the will of God does
not mean I am free of storms and life events that will bring suffering
my way. That brings me to the next lesson this child taught me:
When
her father taught her survival training, he never said to himself, "On
January 3,2015 we are going to be in a plane crash and die, and she will
have to know how to survive." Yet, the reality is that is actually what
he prepared her for. Every test we take as a Christian God has already
prepared us to take, His tests are not to bring us harm, they are to
help us to walk and grow closer to Jesus, His desire is for us to pass
the test. So embrace the test it is for our good. Next lesson for the
body of Christ to learn:
The scriptures tell us we are
the light set on a hill, that when the light of Christ is in us, His
light will draw men to Him. The little girl was looking for a light
because it was dark, can you imagine her sigh of relief when she came
through the woods and saw a light at the house in front of her. She
followed the light to the door where she knocked and help waited on the
other side. Church we are to be the light that when the hurt, the lost,
the desperate, the forgotten see us they know they have found a safe
haven. The church is about healing, fellowship, loving, restoring one
another and lifting up our Savior Jesus Christ, through worship of Him
and Him alone.
What I learned and wrote above was not
anything new, I have been learning these things for more than a year, but what she
did for me was set an example that says "Remain steadfast, keep moving
forward, hold on to the hope of the gospel." She encouraged me with her
determination and caused me to examine my heart and my life. I hope this
too will encourage all who read it.
Colossians 1:23
if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not
moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was
preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a
minister.
