The Big Slip

Hi All,

1 Chronicles 16:8-12 - Give thanks to the Lord and pray to Him. Tell the nations what He has done. Sing to Him; sing praises to Him. Tell about all His miracles. Be glad that you are His; let those who seek the Lord be happy. Depend on the Lord and His strength; always go to Him for help. Remember the miracles He has done, His wonders, and His decisions.

Have you ever had a close call with physical danger and somehow you came away safe and unharmed even though it didn't seem possible that you escaped? It wasn't anything you did to save yourself, it was something else? It seems everyone has had an experience like that. Was it just luck, good fortune, fate... or something else?

My good friend, Mike and his wife were visiting my wife and I on their way down to Florida for a few months last winter. We've all been friends for more than fifty years and they always stop in South Carolina to stay with us for a few days on their way down from New Jersey. On the second day of their visit with us, Mike and I decided to start our morning with a trip to the local recreation center near me to workout. It was a rainy morning, kind of misty, but still warm as we drove over. Mike was going to hit the treadmill and I was going to lift.

Walking in the front door of the recreation center I scanned my member card while Mike registered as a guest. I was wearing my favorite running shoes, a very lightweight low profile pair of Nikes, with an almost smooth sole. Great for running on the roads and beach down here. I thanked the girl behind the desk, turned and began to walk toward the steps up to the weight room, Mike right behind me. Suddenly I was airborne. I must have hit some water or condensation because both my feet shot straight out from under me and I was headed backward for the floor.

My arms flew up in the air as well and as they did I felt my left arm and side fly up particularly hard. I remember on the way down thinking I'm going to break something here and I hope I don't hit my head. Being on a blood thinner I knew hitting my head could lead to an internal bleed. And if it was in my head, that might be it for me.

All of this is happening in a split second. Mike was behind me. He didn't have a chance to do anything. And then suddenly I was on my back on the linoleum floor. Just flat out. 

I lay there stunned for a second. Feeling my body. There was no pain. No back pain. My head didn't hit. Not even my butt hurt. How could this be. I felt again. Maybe it was just adrenaline blocking out the pain that was sure to start any second. 

I moved my arms and legs. All my parts were okay. It was like I was just layed out gently. It seemed impossible. How could I have gone from standing straight up to laying completely flat in a second, after being airborne with no support and not slam that floor hard?

As I stood, shaking and taking inventory, the only pain I felt was in my left side, where that arm had been flung violently into the air. That was it. I would later find that I didn't even have a single bruise anywhere on my body. The girl from behind the desk had rushed over asking if I was okay and then a guy was there mopping the floor and putting out orange cones. Mike had me by the arm. "Are you okay? That happened so fast I couldn't get a hand on you."

"Yeah. I'm okay." I smiled nervously. I kept waiting for pain to emerge from somewhere. It didn't.

How was this possible? My immediate thought right there on the rec center floor before I even got up, and I think it was correct, was that angels had caught me and prevented me from slamming that floor. Who knows how badly injured I might have been otherwise? And what else explains it? I do remember thanking God repeatedly for sparing me once again. A piece of a verse came to mind about angels protecting us, but I didn't really know it. I looked for it much later. Here it is.

Psalm 91:11-12 "For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. So you won't even hurt your foot on a stone."

Bob K.