Always in His sight and never beyond His reach

There is no true beginning to the work that the Lord is doing, just continuing occurrences and tales that add to the story of His glorious love and power. My tale is another chapter in God’s long novel that He is writing to us, His people.

I grew up in a split home, I have two older brothers, and sports were a huge theme in our family; those three aspects of my life were greatly influential in the development of my personality and thought process. With all three features there is the presence of competition, and because I am the baby, as well as the only girl, I had to fight for everything since the day I was born. I definitely grabbed onto that characteristic and carried it into everything that I did, especially sports, with fervor and feistiness. I didn’t really care what anyone thought about how I got things done, just as long as I did it; so it has always truly been about what I thought about myself and how far I could go to be better than the rest…survival of the fittest, and man did I want to be the absolute best! I even loved getting bumps, scratches, bruises, and scars to prove to myself that I had worked hard and accomplished something. Scars were my favorite because they will tell my story forever. Much of my personality was selfish and corrupt, for I was good at sports and I did get things done to the great happiness of my coaches, but God was no where in my picture; He was there, but I did not have the eyes to see it or give the Lord praise, honor, or glory for all He had already given me. I spent fifteen and a half years of my life living for myself and competing in all things for my own benefit until the Lord said “ENOUGH”. He graciously shined His bright light of truth in my eyes and I was finally able to see that I was His creation and my actions and personal thought/moments should represent God the Father, not myself. The greatest thing that He showered on me and began to teach me was love. Love was largely absent in how I treated my family, my brothers specifically, teammates, acquaintances, and the heavenly Father Himself. There was a load of practice on my part in incorporating love into my daily duties. With my eyes opened to truth and God by my side I began to understand how to serve the many different people in my life. It was amazing how much greater it was to play sports in the name of the Lord, and how much easier it was to subdue my reactions to my brothers as they antagonized me when I remembered that I am a representative of God.

I am ever so thankful that the Lord showed me not only the error of my ways, but also gave me understanding as to how to get on the right way, the way of Jesus Christ. I am only twenty, but have already fought many spiritual battles and will continue to fight until the Lord takes me home to be with Him. Life isn’t easy, but having the Creator of the Universe walking by my side and teaching me daily sure does allow me to have true hope.

My most recent battle that the world could witness involved two people who belong to Christ, a car, and the will of God. June 14 was the day that my step grandfather Bud and I set out on a three day drive to Iowa for a family reunion. All was well throughout the first day and as the night began to sink in Bud filled in as driver and I climbed into the back of the SUV to sleep. As Bud traveled the open road the right rear tire exploded according to an outside source, and as Bud attempted to pull over and slow us down into the grass median, the car tipped and rolled several times; this all occurred around 4:30 in the morning. Neither of us was buckled and with the first turn of the car my Bud was thrown from the vehicle, and I remained in the car as it made its fourth-fifth-sixth turn and was then thrown from it. I do not remember a thing and no one can be sure what specifically caused all my injuries, but the fact that I can talk about it today goes to show that God had me surrounded with mercy and protected me. My body landed on the grass median, and amazingly there was someone who was driving behind us and witnessed the whole thing, so they were able to call for help immediately and also made an attempt to save Bud with CPR. I am glad to say that it is believed that Bud did not suffer, so the Lord took him home right away; God allowed me to stay here on earth and tell the story of His miraculous work in my life. I walked away with a 44cm long laceration along my forehead and scalp; my left eye socket was shattered; nose was completely smashed; my jaw broke all the way through and was fractured in two other places, and with that I lost only two lower teeth; I partially bit through my tongue and the marks remain today; both shoulder blades were fractured, and about four or five ribs broke. The only internal injury that I had was a punctured lung due to my broken ribs. There were a couple smaller things, I banged my right elbow and knee good enough that I am still a little numb, I have some scratches on my forearms and hands, and the ribs that did not brake were all deeply bruised and tender.

I am more amazed every day by how God has been preparing me for this battle my whole life. According to the EMT’s, I was a fighter and it set me apart from most people they deal with. I have been fighting my whole life: brothers, in playing sports, and I am my own worst enemy. The Lord saw fit that I should grow up enduring the things that I have with a split home and ornery brothers. My sports mentality of get up, deal with it, and go also helped in my mentality in the hospital bed. As an athlete, I have endured many different injuries and I always had to see what needed to be done so that I could get back out and play. But overall, it was love that really lifted me up. For the first time I physically felt the hands of God around me as all of this took place. While I don’t remember the accident itself, I do remember the Lord’s tender touch, and it is the most affectionate thing I have ever experienced. And I was so enthused by the amount of prayers and wishes being brought to our powerful Lord on my behalf. To know that people are going before our powerful Lord to plead that my life be spared shows the amount of love that existed for me, a sister in Christ. There is no possible way that the attitude that I have over this whole experience could exist outside of God’s powerful influence. I have always been under His watch and never was I out of His reach, and because He saved me and calls me His own I can see how much mercy He has bestowed upon me. This ordeal has allowed me to see things in new ways, appreciate my heavenly Father more, and it is also another way that God is teaching and preparing me. I never imagined that I would go through what I just had, but it has become the greatest thing that I have ever gone through because of the work of God and I can only imagine what He has next for me. Jesus endured many horrible things; the worst was being separated from God as He was nailed to the cross, and all so that we humans could draw close to the Lord. I went through a hard thing, but because Jesus already did the most difficult thing of all on our behalf, I was never left nor forsaken by my God. I am alive today not because I am strong or because I deserve it, but because God is strong and His name will be glorified through it because He deserves it.

As of today, I am back at The Master’s College studying to become a Biblical Counselor and enjoying every minute of it. I also have been able to be apart of the school volleyball team again. I am unable to play as of yet, but the Lord has given me the privilege of serving my team in any way that they need: doing stats, refilling water bottles, running errands, etc. I have nothing but utter thankfulness and joy for what the Lord has done in and for me, and daily I am seeing His blessings abound in all I am dealing with (school, sports, relationships).

Thanks is an order to all who lifted me up in prayer, for our Lord answered many of those requests! I am not shy at all about discussing my recent incident, so if there are any questions feel free to ask:) I appreciate all that has been done on my behalf, and it has been a blessing to my family as well…so thank you again!

In Christ and by His grace,

 

Brianna “Breezie” James