It was dark and the MG was the only car on the backcountry road. As I was speeding my way home, road barricades suddenly loomed in front of me. I swerved left and the sensitive steering of the MG jerked the car toward the right, swinging me out of control. Before I could react, I was in the front yard of a house with the car flipped. I could hear the clacking of the fuel pump in my ear, the engine still running and not getting the gas it needed. I shakily turned the car off, looking around to place where I was—upside down, hanging from the top of the car and firmly strapped in my seatbelt.

I couldn’t move my knee. The fear of being trapped erupted from me with a scream. After a moment, I realized all I had to do was unhook myself. I flipped the three prongs of the seatbelt, yanked my knee loose from where it was stuck against the steering wheel, and dropped down onto the top of the car. Disoriented, I felt for the handle and pushed open the door.

Everything was opposite what it should be. I heard voices and the sound of a siren as I crawled out. I stood up and looked at the car’s upside-down-ness, resting on the front lawn beside a telephone pole. I heard the whine of my black poodle still in the car. I was filled with fear. What would I say to my new husband and this brand new car that was wrecked? I could hardly breathe, I was disoriented. What was next? “I thought we’d be picking out a casket, “ my husband Bill, said when they came to pick me up. The ambulance left empty.cAfter a day or so, we began to look at that accident as a miracle from God. Only the night before the accident, my husband installed a roll bar to protect the driver and passenger from serious injury if the car was overturned with its soft roadster top.

An elderly man in the Bible, named Daniel, had a scary experience when he was approached by a man “whose face was like lightening, his eyes like flaming torches…..and his voice like the sound of a multitude”….Daniel had a powerful faith in God. He had many experiences of trusting God, yet when approached by this man with a scary face and loud voice, he was terrified. But the man said:

Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
Daniel 10:12

After talking with the man—probably an angel—Daniel was again overcome with anguish. And the angel said this to him:

….”Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.”
Daniel 10:19

Daniel’s relationship with God goes back to his youth. He was a leader in a foreign land as chief advisor to the king of Babylon as well as one of three governors when Persia conquered Babylon, as well as a dream interpreter for the king.

Even with this long history of trusting God, Daniel was afraid—despite being told to not fear. The Book of Daniel is a testimony showing how God works out His purposes through His people even in the courts of pagan rulers—and even if they’re afraid.

Daniel was afraid—even after God proved Himself to him. My overturned sports car, and having only a bruised knee and a broken windshield, showed God’s faithfulness to me and my family. He has shown Himself to be faithful many other times in my decades of life. What fear are you facing? Take the angel’s advice: “Be strong!” Let God show you how strong you can be with His help in facing the fear.

This is me, 51 years ago with that little car and pup