To those who shine when surrounded by darkness, I salute you.

For them, the long nights of constant struggle with little to no sign of any coming aid become testaments of what strength of faith resides within them.

To those who persevere, a gift is given to them, a crown.

I know the thoughts of those who strain to hear Him, but only nothing greets their ears. “Of what use is a crown?” “Give me even a portion of what You promised, and I will be content.”

To those who struggle and claw for a crumb, a feast awaits.

Desperation is not the robe we wear. The scars come from the ravaging hunger against the sea of sand and hopelessness that threatens to swallow any existence, any sign that faith was here.

For them, their story is not one of continued pain but of joy.

Who is to say that the fact that you remain is not of the foulest stench to the enemy? He waits for you to pack up and go, he would have long ago. You are a mystery to him.

For those of the long night, your struggle is not in vain.
For those hounded by thoughts that betray hope, hold fast.
For those neck deep in emptiness, He will come for you.
For those of the remnant, your light shines unfailingly.

I salute, I bow, I bring you a royal goblet filled with the Blood of the King of kings. To the world, even our own eyes, we are madmen.

Who waits for His coming like a monk on the furthest rock?
Who holds their lamp and keeps it burning?
Who clothes themselves in sackcloth as if silk?

You do. God be praised, you do.
Thank you.

On August 2, 2018, a semi-truck carrying steel clipped a road construction worker who was on a roller. The truck driver, Kevin, steered the truck off the road into a grassy area narrowly missing electric telephone poles. The truck then flipped over and came to rest in the middle of the field.

Earlier in May, my kids and I began praying over our church. My son Jack prayed that traffic passing by wouldn’t be able to help but notice the church and come in.

I was praying for a new car for our pastor, who was on vacation at the time. On July 24, I had recruited a bunch of members of our church to pray with us. In my prayers, on July 27, I saw 50 cars in our lot and mentioned it to the group. If this was going to happen before our pastor came back, time was running short. On July 28, and after a bunch of failed attempts with local car dealerships, I prayed for the 50 to be here before the next Friday.

That following Thursday morning on Aug. 2, 2018, my kids were running laps around the grassy field behind our church. It was a normal hot beautiful day. My wife had Thursdays off of work so she was home. Later and after our kids were already inside, she was in the kitchen cleaning up after a late lunch and was the first to see out of the windows the flipping semi. She called for me, I was in the office, and called 911.

We quickly went outside. The truck was still but I remember its wheels were spinning. People began to stop. Betsy and a lady named Missy checked on Kevin. Denny, the road construction worker, was walking around claiming he was fine. I contacted our prayer team and we prayed injuries would stay minor.

EMS arrived shortly after. The church lot was full of vehicles. I remember counting them and got over 30 before I gave up. There were more vehicles coming all the time. Ambulances, fire trucks, they even flew in a helicopter which was able to land in the field behind the semi. Betsy remained outside and prayed in the heat. She kept giving me reports which I conveyed to our prayer team.

Kevin was in pain and was trapped in the cab. They were considering amputating his legs to get him out. Instead, they were able to lift the truck with the hydraulics on another vehicle and safely retrieved him. The process took all day and into the evening. 4 hours of traffic with hundreds of cars backed up and everyone’s attention was fixed on it.

We found out the next day from Kevin’s in-laws that he didn’t have any broken bones and only got three stitches. My kids may no longer run laps around that field, but our prayer times have never been the same.

I was asked by someone if God made that accident happen. I don’t know, but I told him I didn’t think so. Rather, that the accident was going to happen and God used it to answer our prayers.

I’ve since read news reporters write, “Someone’s watching out for that guy.” Praise to God from the lost wasn’t on my mind, but it was on His. He is able to do beyond all we ask or imagine, Ephesians 3:20.

The marks of the accident are almost gone.