A half-century ago, the Ford Motor Company was embroiled in a national controversy concerning the Pinto, a compact car that sometimes burst into flames when struck from behind.
One of the landmark accidents took place not far from my home in Indiana.
A Chevy van ploughed into the back of a Pinto and killed three teenage girls.
Two of them burned to death within moments. The driver, an 18-year-old girl named Judy, was thrown clear of the accident but was burned over 95% of her body. Somehow she was still alive when the paramedics arrived.
The doctors at the hospital where Judy was taken quickly realized that they were powerless to save her. They decided to send her by ambulance to a burn center 75 miles away so at least she might receive some comfort. A nurse agreed to ride along with her.
Christian author and apologist Lee Strobel reports that the trip began as a nightmare.
Because of the damage to her nerve endings, Judy didn’t feel much physical pain. But as the reality of her situation began to sink in, she was overwhelmed with emotional pain. She grasped that these were her last hours. She was separated from family and friends. She sobbed to the nurse beside her, “I’m not ever going to have children, am I?”
What can be said in such a situation?
Nothing seemed to penetrate Judy’s intense distress…until she mentioned the name of Jesus. Discovering that both she and Judy trusted Christ, the nurse came alongside that 18-year-old girl and provided the one medication that quieted her fears.
From memory she recited these verses from the prophet Isaiah:
Fear not, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.
The flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
(Isaiah 43:1-3)
Hearing those words, Judy slowly took on a calmness and courage that lifted her through the last hours of her life.
She heard again that she belonged to God, that nothing was more important than his love, and that even the seemingly worst circumstances could never separate her from what mattered most.
Jesus promised his followers three things:
1. Life is hard.
2. We will never be alone.
3. Everything, in the end, will be set right.
That is our hope. It may seem at times that our hope is futile.
But God is faithful.
In the midst of chaos, exasperation, and disappointment, HOPE, for followers of Jesus, becomes an acronym: Hang On. Pain Ends.
God doesn’t promise that we will never go through fire – whether the fires of sadness, sickness, betrayal, or the loss of an irreplaceable person.
But he does promise that we will never go through anything apart from his presence.
The God of all hope is always with us.
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