God still does miracles: An incredible story of survival

If you’ve seen some of the content on this website, you might think that I’m a cessationist.

Not at all. I believe God can and does still do anything He did in the Bible, as long as it’s according to the instructions and examples in the text — that’s what makes it continuationism, no?

I believe in healing and miracles today. In fact, I’ve witnessed an amazing act of God that I can explain no other way, which I’ll describe here. This article is being published here on its fifth anniversary.

Miracle in Scotland

In April of 2019, my wife, Laurie, and I flew to Scotland to visit a friend. While there, we drove to the Isle of Skye, which Laurie had always wanted to see because it was the subject of an Andrew Peterson song.

One of the many beautiful sights she wanted to see on Skye was something called fairy pools — pretty ponds at the bottom of waterfalls. So we set out to find them.

This area was in a remote part of the island. In Scotland’s rural regions, many roads are just one lane, and the road we took was long, narrow, winding, and rocky on the edges.

We reached the parking area for the fairy pools, but we needed food and water, so we drove farther along this road because we saw a sign for a cafe.

We never reached it.

The car must have hit a rock on the edge of the road, and we blew a tire. In the middle of nowhere. With no cell service.

“Lord, help us,” I prayed repeatedly, “to Your glory.”

I never could have imagined how He was going to answer that prayer.

***

The rental car had a tire inflater/patch, which didn’t fix the tire but was enough to get us a little farther to a youth hostel, which we didn’t know was there and which had a pay phone.

We made the calls to arrange for a tow truck, but it would be at least an hour before it got there. We decided to explore the area around the hostel on foot.

Right across the road was a small but picturesque waterfall flowing into a pond in the middle of a deep, rocky ravine. It wasn’t much different than the fairy pools we had tried to see.

While checking that out, a man who worked at the hostel (the only person there) called out to us because the rental car company was calling us back on the pay phone. So Laurie and I started to hurry back.

She was behind me, so I didn’t see her. And she didn’t realize where she was — at the edge of the ravine.

I heard a short, startled scream.

I looked back, and she wasn’t there.

Our friend saw her fall and tumble, head over heels, down a steep cliff that had to be at least 30 feet deep.

I don’t ever want to describe the next few seconds as I rushed to the edge.

And I’m not even sure how I can describe what I saw when I looked down.

***

All the way at the bottom of the cliff, Laurie was sitting up. Fully conscious and lucid. Not in any apparent pain.

She had landed on her butt, in the one spot that didn’t have any large rocks.

Then, she spoke two words that made me more joyful than even “I do” — “I’m okay.”

The only words I could stammer out of my mouth were, “That should have killed you!”

(She thought I said, “I should have killed you!” and we still laugh about that.)

It gets better.

She got up. Able to stand and walk.

I started to make my way down to her, but before I could get very far ...

She climbed back up!

She climbed. Back. Up.

Of the thousands of times I’ve taken her hand, this was by far the greatest one of all.

Stepping well away from the edge, we made our way back to the hostel.

She had nothing more than a few scrapes and a sprained knee (which we think happened on the initial slip). Not one of her bones was broken. Not a drop of her blood was shed. Not one of her words suggested anything wrong in the head.

***

Now I was crying out over and over, “This is why we’re here!”

This is why we drove past the parking lot.

This is why we got a flat tire.

This is why we ended up at a place near a beautiful but hazardous natural wonder.

Oh, and this happened on her birthday.

God, in His sovereignty over all space and time, orchestrated it all — to His glory!

I don’t know if He went outside the laws of physics to do what He did, but come on — what are the odds of Laurie not being dead or paralyzed?

What are the odds that after a brush with death, we actually did more sightseeing later in the day?? (The tow truck came for us, and the garage was able to replace the tire right away.)

We enjoyed the rest of our time in Scotland, and God blessed us in many more ways. I originally wrote this on a plane we ran to catch. Laurie didn’t miss a step.

What this means for you

God Most High does above all we ask or think, even though He doesn’t owe us even our next breath.

Every moment of your life has been given to you. And as we almost found out firsthand, those moments can end at any time.

You need to be right with God. You don’t know when the time will come when you will stand before Him, either in your righteousness or Christ’s righteousness.

You don’t want it to be yours. No one can stand before Him in our sin and live.

You need to be saved. You need to be forgiven. You need to be reconciled to God.

As Jesus said, you must be born again.

Being a good person doesn’t save you.

Believing in God doesn’t save you.

Going to church doesn’t save you.

Reciting a certain prayer doesn’t save you.

All of the above together doesn’t save you.

Jesus Christ has done everything that needs to be done to save you. He died, He rose from the dead, and He sits as Lord at the right hand of God. He will come again to judge the world. He now calls everyone to turn from our sins and self-righteousness, and trust in Him alone to be saved. If that truly happens, His perfect righteousness will count for you, and all of your sins will be forgiven. He will also transform your life, and you will follow and obey Him — not as a condition to be saved, but because you already are.

If that doesn’t describe you, don’t wait another day. Don’t wait until you fall over your cliff.