It’s been a while since I have been able to sneak away and go on a full all day date.  But this one I wanted to make extra special.  My plan was to wake up REALLY early, like 3:30 am early and take a three-hour drive to watch the sunrise in Coromandel.  Everybody I talked to said it is a must!  So I jumped into my little Corolla and hit the road.  I wanted to wow God, so I thought hey let me take you to a place that you will love! And we can spend the day together with no cell phone or any other distractions.  Just me and you God!

So we headed on the three-hour drive to the east coast of New Zealand and the day started out so good!  Singing praises, praying and just enjoying the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Good thing there were no cars on the road, or they might have thought I was a crazy American!  But I got so lost worshiping God that as we passed a sign that said Coromandel (55Km), the gas light of the car came on.  By this time we are in the middle of nowhere and even if we did see a gas station, they weren’t going to be open.  If that wasn’t enough, to get there, we had to pass another tall mountain range.  No gas and a huge uphill drive that would guzzle the gas quickly.  What was I going to do?

Easy, go by faith!  So I started praying, “God I need you to multiply this gas tank”.  If not we are going to be stuck out here in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone.  As we started going up the hill, I looked down, and the needle was under the empty line.  So I just kept praying!  I had no idea how I was going to make it but didn’t have any other options.  All I know is that God was going to have to multiply the fumes in the tank, and I knew He was capable of doing it.  With one eye on the road and the other eye on the gas tank, I noticed that the needle started to go up just above the empty line.  Just blown away, I watched it stay at that amount until we hit Coromandel and was able to gas up.  Thank You, Jesus, for that wondrous miracle, it totally set the tone for the day!Then, we continued to drive up the mountain to try and find a cool beach to hang out at on the other side.  The view was stunning!  The hills were green, the trees were healthy, and the ocean waters was shining bright like a diamond.  And even as were going up, the chicken crossed the road! Just to get to the other side!  Literally!  As you look to the one hand, there is the wall of the mountain that was carved out by man from the road.  And to the other side you could look down and see nothing but a 200 ft drop and tall trees.

A thought occurred to me as I was driving this road.  If something were to happen to my car and I was to lose control and go over the side of the mountain.  I would never be found, nobody knew where I was, and I had no way of calling because there was no cell phone service at that elevation.  I would have dropped off the face of the earth and because of the massive drop nobody could ever find my car.  It was just God and me!  So I drove the Blue Bandit (my car), a lot slower and safer.

So everything was fine as I got up the mountain and wasn’t worried about running out of gas because I had a full tank.  As I began to go down the hill, the road seemed a little slippery. Before I could even do anything, my car started to go out of control. I was headed for the steep side, but out of nowhere the car just turned and skidded into the side of the mountain instead. My life was a split second from disappearing from the earth, but Jesus turned the car from going over that edge, and I could do nothing about it.  I just stopped and had no clue what just happened! But because I knew that was the work of Jesus, I couldn’t do anything but smile and thanked God for saving me from going over that edge and seeing him sooner than expected.

Wow, what a day!  At this point, I had seen two miracles, and it was only 8 am in the morning!  I should be dead right now, but God saved my life. I am so thankful that He was the one that was in the car with me!  Anybody else, I think the situation would have been different.  So thank you, Jesus, again for saving my life!

Jesus still works miracles even today.  Sometimes they can be small, or sometimes they can be as big as saving your life from death.  But you have to have faith, and trust Him.  And when you do see miracles don’t doubt but give praise to the one who did them.  I think He finds joy when we exalt Him, so give credit to the one who deserves all praise and keep your eyes open to what He is doing in your life.

The story doesn’t end here; it keeps getting better!  To Be Continued!