Sometimes you are in danger and... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
Psalm 96:2

Sometimes you are in danger and don’t know it – and you are rescued and forget it again!

September 2011. It has been pouring with rain for days. Small rivulets have become dangerous streams pouring into the Rhine River. An Intercity train is travelling on the railroad line near St. Goar. Suddenly, masses of rock from a landslide pile up in front of the locomotive. The locomotive driver cannot brake fast enough and drives into the debris. The heavy electric locomotive is forced off the track and only comes to a halt on the opposite track. 800 people are able to leave the train via emergency exits. Almost all of them are unhurt.

The locomotive is now on the opposite track. And it seems like a miracle that at this moment on the busy line, no oncoming train rushes up and drives into the accident site. There would certainly be fatalities and injuries, and perhaps even parts of the train would slide into the Rhine. A sudden failure of the signal box has meant that this has been prevented. A coincidence?

The story is not over yet. Normally, the Intercity travels with the cab car in front. But due to an operational malfunction, the locomotive was placed in the front for this trip. If it had been at the rear, it would have pushed the train ahead of it, derailing cars until the locomotive finally came to a stop. Again, just a coincidence?

Perhaps many of those affected only realised later why nothing worse had happened. And perhaps many were also grateful. But to whom? To the train driver ... to chance ... to the great God? – How good it is when a person knows that his life is in the hands of God and that he experiences God’s help every day – and then goes and thanks the great God for his rescue and preservation!

Today’s reading: Ezekiel 20:1-26 · Psalms 121:1-8