Recognizing God in our lives
Christopher Russo The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
How are we able to recognize the hand of God in our lives? I have often pondered this very question. A friend of mine had a life-threatening experience that has helped me gain some clarity in regards to this question.
This friend, whom I will call Tom, moved to a rural piece of land overlooking the Gasconade River in Southern Missouri. He and his wife chose this particular piece of land due in part to the seclusion and quiet it provided. They were not reclusive or hermits; they just enjoyed the peace that only solitude and nature can provide.
After a number of years, a “neighbor” couple built a house on the next farm over. Although the two families were separated by a good couple miles of dirt road, they took the time to get to know each other well.
This new neighbor and his wife moved to Southern Missouri from a large metropolitan in Texas. The rural country living was new to them, and they had much to learn. The husband would often visit with Tom about farming questions. On one particular day, Tom was teaching his Texan neighbor how to fix some hydraulics on a tractor the neighbor used for haying. A disastrous accident would occur during the process of the repair.
The tractor would somehow engage a gear and would run over Tom’s leg. The accident caused Tom’s femur to compound fracture, which in turn would sever his femoral artery in his leg. Under perfect conditions this type of injury is deadly. Death seemed guaranteed in Tom’s mind since they were more than 40 miles from the nearest hospital. Tom’s final words to his friend were, “Tell my wife I love her.”
The Texan neighbor replied with the words, “Not on my watch.” An important detail about the life of this neighbor was that he had just retired as the head of cardiovascular surgery from a prestigious hospital in Texas. He was able to call 911, convince them through doctor talk that they needed to send a life-flight hospital immediately, and also hold together the severed femoral artery enough that Tom would not bleed to death.
As I received a call from Tom’s wife telling me of the accident, and the subsequent life-saving actions from their neighbor, I thought to myself that God was in all these details. Surely it was not coincidental that this random couple would move to the middle of nowhere and be able to possess the knowledge and skills to save Tom from a catastrophic accident. I thought that the details of the accident were evidence of the hand of God.
I was missing the point. Had Tom died, would I have still been as willing to confess God’s hand in this situation? I often hear or read of individuals that recover from some sickness or adversity and individuals responding with “God’s good.” I do not see those comments as often when someone doesn’t make it. So I was troubled in my own mind about what and why I was acknowledging God’s hand in this event.
It was about a month after the accident, as I was watching an Arkansas Razorbacks football game with Tom on TV that I finally understood how I could truly recognize God’s hand in this event.
I was visiting with Tom’s wife during halftime and getting some dessert. Part of Tom’s recovery was that he had to eat around 10000 calories a day to aid in his body’s healing process. Pecan pie was one of his favorite calorie getters.
Tom’s wife turned to me and asked, “Do you know what the best part of all of this was?” I shrugged. “Tom is more mindful of others than he has ever been. God has changed him.” It all just made sense to me at that point. Recognizing God’s hand has little to do with the actual outcomes. It has to do with how the experience changes us to become more like the master teacher.
Hearing Tom’s entire story made me want to become more like my savior, because that is who I saw Tom emulating. May we all look for opportunities to do so as well.
