EDITOR: Mrs Lee Foong Ming, a member of the Methodist Message Editorial Board and a member of Covenant Community Methodist Church, was involved in a road accident on July 24, 2006. She shared her testimony with Christian and non-Christian friends in an email. She agreed to have her testimony published in Methodist Message because, she said, "God has been so good, it makes me just want to shout it out loud from the mountain top. We can't keep a good thing to ourselves."
Crash! And that still, small voice

 

By LEE FOONG MING

HOW do we know when God is talking to us?


This question has come up time and again during my small group meetings and sharing with Christian friends. We wonder, how will we know His still, small voice, how will we read the Bible passages/signs that come our way, confident our interpretation is not something that fits in with what our hearts desire instead of what God desires for us?


I never thought I would have my question answered in the dramatic way it happened this week.


On Monday night (July 24), I was involved in a road accident.


I was travelling on the middle lane of Dunearn Road towards Newton Circus. Just as I was about to pass the Goldhill Avenue junction, a car shot out from this side road into the middle lane where I was. We were headed for a T-collision.


My reaction was to serve to my right and jam my brakes. But I lost control of my car, it skidded, spun around and headed for the railings along the Bukit Timah Canal, facing the oncoming traffic. The other car swerved left - and sped off.


I recalled spinning, seeing the headlights coming towards me, knowing I was headed for the canal. I recalled hearing, "God, I am not ready; God I am not ready - not yet."


The car came to a stop after crashing into the railings. When I stepped out of it and saw its condition, realisation hit me.


I recalled very clearly then, the first part - "God, I am not ready!" - had been a loud yet silent scream in my head, the kind you make as you struggle to wake up from a nightmare; the second part, after a beat, was an incredibly calm - "Not yet."


These last two words did not come from me.


The first part was a cry for mercy, the second was God's reply.


That night, I walked away from the accident scene unhurt, save for a bump on my head, my right shoulder, and a bit of whiplash in my neck. But I know it was a very serious accident, my family's lives could have changed drastically that night.


My husband, Lee Heng, got a shock when he arrived at the scene. I had called him before stepping out of the car, telling him I was fine, not a cut anywhere. So he was somewhat unprepared for what he saw.


If there was a time in my life when I cried out to God and He answered me right away, this was it. No doubt about it.


Seeing the state of the car, seeing how the railings had been smashed in and their cement foundations torn from the ground, how could I ever doubt His voice again? As I told a friend the next day, the interior of the car was so miraculously untouched. It was like a capsule which had protected me.


The second morning after the accident, I went back behind the wheel, driving the car the insurance company had provided while ours was in the workshop.
Lee Heng and I went for a brief and slow drive from Maplewoods round to Old Holland Road and then Bukit Timah Road and back home. And tonight, I drove past the accident scene, and saw the freshly replaced railings, still in their white base coat. I am thankful I do not have a psychological hang-up over the accident.


God has been very, very merciful, and I am humbled by His extravagant grace. His words, "Not yet", have filled me with a blessed assurance. He knew I was not ready to go home.


Now I know, when I finally do, it would be because I am ready, and He would know it. And you know what? I am sure I would know it too, no matter when it happens.


May you always know His love, and His blessed assurance too.



Lee Foong Ming is a member of the Editorial Board of Methodist Message.


Be still and know I am Lord. - Psalm 46:10.