Why Me?David Frank, Entzheim, France |
On September 1st, 1980, during the school holidays, I was helping my father’s workmen load a 25-ton articulated lorry. We were feeding Sauerkraut into the container via a conveyor belt. Suddenly, I slipped on the wet shredded cabbage and was caught up in the loading equipment. My left arm was almost torn off by the safety guard. I cried out in pain and someone quickly stopped the machine and put it in reverse to free my arm. Then he carried me, still conscious, into the office and laid me down. At this point my father arrived on the scene. He tried to reassure me and in a very steady voice offered to pray for me.
I was only nine at the time, but knew that my father knew Jesus Christ in a personal way. I thought it was great that my parents were Christians, but I had never reached out in faith to Jesus for myself. I had always been content just to listen to the Bible stories.
Lying there on the table waiting for the ambulance, all I could think of was, "Why me? Why me? After all, such things only happen to grown ups, don’t they?"
From my prone position I couldn’t see the full extent of my injury, though I remained fully conscious. I was rational enough to be able to tell my father where to find my medical record book. My father tried to clean me up a bit to keep from shocking my mother. He said, "You know, she’s very sensitive. She’s going to turn white if she sees this." In the meantime my aunt, who was also a committed Christian, arrived and began to pray. When my mother showed up, she reacted as had been predicted, then she, too, started praying.
Finally, about twenty minutes later, the ambulance arrived, but, unfortunately, with a punctured tyre. On seeing my condition, they then tried to call in a Civil Defence helicopter, but it was unavailable. With no other choice, they called in yet another ambulance. All this time I waited, fully conscious.
Eventually, after a five-hour operation and fifty stitches, the surgeon reassured my parents as to my chances of my survival. Yet a doubt persisted concerning the use of my arm. Six days later I was released from the hospital.
After a year’s rehabilitation therapy... the surgeon was amazed that my arm had recovered 100%. He confirmed that it was nothing short of a miracle.
Having escaped death by a few millimeters, I realized that I had an important choice to make. Jesus had died and suffered for me. I could see that He alone could offer eternal life. I began to read the Bible, and finally I understood that it was more than just a book of nice stories – it contained the truth – it is a personal love letter from God to me.
Although I would not say that I immediately became perfect, I’ve learned that Jesus understands our problems and, if we allow Him to, He can solve them. To help us in this respect, He send us His Holy Spirit. Later, I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which has helped me enormously in my family life and at school, where young people are besieged by a host of problems. Many are aware of an inner emptiness and try to fill it with philosophy, science, music, sex, or drugs.
Since the accident eleven years ago I have been through my adolescence — a time when young people gradually leave the family cocoon and discover the world outside — with its successes and failures. I often used to think that a Christian could not fail, and yet last year I failed my second year exams in Economics at University. I now understand that the Lord allowed this to happen to break my pride. Indeed, although I wasn’t the best student, I had always thought I was! I was relying too much on my own efforts and was forgetting that the only person we can really count on is the Lord Jesus Christ.
David Frank is 20 years old and is studying Economics and Business Administration at the University of Strasbourg. David is a member of the Strasbourg II Chapter of the FGBMFI.
