On the Fence

In the midst of a car accident is not the best time to consider whether or not Jesus is who He says He is. Although it’s better than never considering the Jesus question, it’s still not the optimal time.

But that’s what my husband did, twenty-five years ago, when our firstborn was a baby. One minute he was riding with a friend to a golf tournament in Miami, and the next, he was tumbling across lanes of traffic after his car was hit by a truck.

It wasn’t the first time my husband had thought about whether Jesus was the son of God. Actually, he had been thinking about it a lot since our son’s birth one year earlier. Although he had been curious about Christianity for several years, the miracle of birth and the circumstances surrounding the unexpectedly complicated delivery of our child piqued his interest.

My group of obstetricians was large – they sent whichever doctor was on call when you went into labor. We hadn’t met Dr. G before the big day. But when things took a dramatic turn, this stranger managed to bring our baby safely into the world. Then, he surprised us by asking if he could pray with us. My husband had always leaned toward scientific explanations for our existence, and it startled him to see a man of science demonstrating his faith so boldly.

Later that night, as we inspected and admired our newborn, my husband confessed that the birth had made him believe, for the first time, that there was a God. And just as that belief dawned on him, the doctor had asked to pray with us. It seemed oddly coincidental.

Six weeks later, that same doctor was featured in our big city’s newspaper, in an article about faith and science. Another strange coincidence?

Fast forward to one year later. We had moved to Florida for my husband’s job, and for the first time in our marriage, we were visiting a church. For months, we had also been attending informational classes about Christianity. My husband peppered me with questions about Jesus and the Bible on the ride home after every session. It seemed that the logical part of him wanted all the answers before he would fully accept that the Bible was true and Jesus was God’s Son, sent to save us.

I tried to share what I knew, having been a Christian for fifteen years by that point. But finally, a few days before the accident, it dawned on me that I would never be able to alleviate his doubt. It wasn’t wrong or bad to ask questions, but no answer I gave would ever be enough to push him off that fence. My husband just had to choose to believe or not.

Less than a week later, I was racing to a hospital in Miami. I found him inside, banged up, bandaged, and strapped to a backboard, but alive. It had been a harrowing ordeal – but amazingly, a few hours later, he walked out of the hospital with me.

Arriving home, he gingerly walked inside. Taking off his blood-stained sneakers by the door, he placed them next to our toddler’s tiny shoes. Our little boy had no idea how close he had come to losing his dad before he could even celebrate his first birthday.

I’ve never been so happy to have dirty tennis shoes in the living room.

That same week, my husband decided that his answer to the Jesus question was “yes.” He became a follower of Christ and was baptized. For the first time, we were both standing on the same foundation. His decision strengthened our marriage and family through challenges we never could have imagined over the ensuing twenty-five years.

It’s easy to think that we have all the time in the world to decide what to believe about Jesus. God put eternity in our hearts – we feel invincible. We think we’ll live forever – on our terms. And one day, maybe we’ll hop off the fence and choose to believe in Jesus and receive the eternal salvation He offers.

But we don’t have all the time in the world, and by waiting, we miss out on the security, peace, joy, and community that comes from being in a relationship with God through Christ. One day, everyone will acknowledge that He is Lord – but wouldn’t it be so much better not to wait until that day?

When we come to the end of trying to save ourselves, or when we finally recognize for the first time that we need saving, it’s a good time to consider the Jesus question. When we acknowledge we don’t have all the answers and never will, faith fills the gap. When we see that our attempts to give life meaning are shallow and our hopes for the future are nebulous, Jesus is waiting for us.

There is so much mystery in how God calls us to Himself. But there is no mystery in how we answer. We either say “yes,” or we say “no.” Today is a good day to choose because remaining on the fence is a precarious position. Getting off the fence and entering the spacious freedom of God’s yard is a much more secure place to be - no matter what life brings.