Bret's Story

Finding God

In the summer of 1992 I had just finished my second year of college and I was working as an intern at my church. My main goal at school for the previous two years had been to get to know God better and to do anything that I thought He wanted me to do. I had grown up in a Christian tradition that taught me the only way to get to know God was to read about Him in the Bible. God was about to show me how real He is and begin a journey of me discovering who God is in a very personal and everyday way.

One night after youth group two other helpers and I decided to take a drive to a place called the “Top of the World.” From there you could see the sun set over the Pacific Ocean from up high above the water. On our way up the road my friend, who was driving, lost control of the car and we slid off the cliff. We took out a tree that was clinging to the hillside right at the top and proceeded to freefall for 500 feet. When we came to rest at the bottom the 4 door sedan that we were driving had become a two door coupe with a trunk and back seat that were completely crushed together and the front was missing all together. The car was up on its side with my right arm from my wrist to just past my elbow underneath. I had lost consciousness when we hit the tree at the top, so I do not remember falling, but I regained consciousness fairly quickly. I was a little scared at first because my arm was stuck, but the first thing that came out of my mouth was “God help” and then I begin singing the song “Our God is an Awesome God.” God’s presence came and overwhelmed me. His peace was more real to me than ever before in my life, and He stayed with me. It took about two hours before the rescuers were able to reach us and another hour to get me out of the car. My friend who was in the back seat was hurt the worst so the paramedics helped him first. The whole time God’s presence never left me. I was so at peace that not only was I trying to keep the two other guys calm but also the fireman who freed my arm. He was a friend from high school and was shocked to see me in that state.

I walked away from that crash with zero broken bones and just a couple of scratches. The only other injury that I had was that my right hand had no strength in it. The nerves in my arm that controlled the use of my hand had been damaged from being pinned under the car for over three hours. It took six months of physical therapy for me to get my strength back. Over those six months God began to become more and more real to me on a daily basis. I began to see Him in little things and active in my life all the time. I had been a Christian for as long as I could remember, but God was beginning to really teach me about who He is and the love that He has for me. That accident was a turning point in my life. I have walked away from it knowing that God wants me here on Earth for a purpose, He loves me more than I can imagine, and that He wants me to know Him more than I can comprehend.

Bret