Perfect Timing

A very strange thing happened last night that I feel compelled to share because I think the story is a lesson in God's sovereignty and His goodness.

I was leaving my parent's house around 8:30 PM. I was anxious to get home because I didn't want to stay up too late. As I was driving down the main street to get to the freeway, I realized I would be driving by Mr. Movies. About five weeks ago, my dad and I were in there renting movies and struck up a conversation with the night manager. He was a young guy who said he had been an athiest for 18 years until he was hospitalized and miraculously saved from this accident. So, he made the leap from athiest to diest, but still struggled finding proof that Jesus is the Son of God. But his search seemed sincere. A couple days later I bought him some C.S. Lewis books.

Those books have been sitting in the back seat of my car for over a month. So, when I realized last night that I would be driving right by the movie place and the books were still in my car, it would be a good time to go and see if he was there. I hesitated briefly, "What if he isn't there?" or "What if he doesn't want the books?" But after a brief mental tug-o-war, I pulled into Mr. Movies.

He was there and he very warmly received the books. We talked for about ten minutes about spiritual things and then I left.

When I got home, I was a bit curious over why there were about half a dozen people standing in my driveway. I pulled into my garage and went out to ask them what was up. Turns out, about ten minutes before I pulled in, a drunk driver had come careening around the bend, swerved off the road, plowed into my driveway, hit my tree, and tore through the neighbor's yard, back onto the road, and went screaming down the street. The tire tread marks from the car were clearly visible in both of our yards.

It didn't dawn on my right away, and perhaps I am just being overly dramatic, but the neighbor said I missed the drunk driver by about ten minutes -- which was about the time I spent in Mr. Movies talking to the night manager. And so, it is hard not to wonder, had I not stopped to give him the books, would I have turned into my neighborhood ten minutes earlier only to be met with a head-on collision? God only knows.

At any rate, it's interesting to think that a couple of books in the back seat of my car -- something meant to save someone else's life - perhaps saved my own.