From Reagan Paul

Today I saw a miracle. I saw Psalms 27:13 before my very eyes…. “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Today I witnessed an attempted suicide. Let me tell you the story.

I went down to Portland this morning to be on a radio program while my mother ran errands. As we were on I95 heading back home, we saw a man standing on the side of the highway looking like he wanted to cross. We drove by him and as we turned around to see what he was doing, he stepped right in front of a tractor trailer that was easily going over 70 mph behind us. The driver tried to swerve and avoid him, but it was too late. The truck hit him head-on. His body flew in the air on impact, his limbs flailing as parts of the truck broke off and flew in different directions. The truck crashed into the median as he tried to avoid hitting this young man. It all happened so fast, yet in slow motion. My mother and I pulled over and got out of the car to help. I immediately called 911. I didn’t want to look at the aftermath of what I had seen but I knew I had to. But as I was on the phone with the 911 operator, I saw the man who had stepped in front of the truck getting off the ground and walking towards me. I said to the operator, “He’s alive!” She said, “WHAT? How can that be?” I watched my mother cross the highway to help the driver who had gotten out of the truck and was wailing on the ground distraught over what just happened. He believed he had just killed someone! My mother took him by the hand and said, “HE’S ALIVE! HE’S ALIVE! HE’S ALIVE! Come with me.” She brought him back over to where I and the young man were. He fell to the ground and just kept saying to the driver “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m a bad person. I don’t deserve to be alive. I want to die.” I felt compelled to go to the driver who was still wailing and trying to process what just happened. As he sat in my passenger seat, he said “HE LOOKED AT ME IN THE EYES!” I asked him if he would allow me to pray for him. He agreed. God gave me the words to comfort him and I got to instantly see God’s peace wash over him. He grabbed my hand and I just kept comforting him, telling him “It’s not your fault. You did everything you could. He is alive. No one should have to go through what you just did.” 

I heard my mother to the side of me consoling the young man who had tried to take his own life. He just said, “I should be crying, but I’m not.” My mother said, “You’re in shock. Nobody walks away from what you just did. The Lord is not done with you.” He said he didn’t believe in God, but begged my mother to hug him. She asked if he was armed, and he lifted his shirt to show a knife sheath, which was empty. He said it flew off when he was struck. She knelt down and hugged him and prayed over him and he confessed to her that he had no family, he would never be loved, he had no reason to live, and that he had an attraction to minor children. I got to see my mother confront him boldly and speak the truth and love of the Lord to Him. I got down on my knees next to him and spoke about Christ to him as well. Then the police and first responders arrived. 

I witnessed a miracle today. That young man should not have survived. I’m sure many of us remember the story recently of the young woman who stepped in front of a tractor trailer in northern Maine and was completely decimated on impact. This young man got up and walked away. I didn’t even believe it was him until I saw his ripped shirt and broken hands. When I noticed he was wearing a Hannaford’s shirt it hit me, he is just a normal guy. He still had his plastic gloves on. He told us he worked in the deli. He literally left work and walked through the woods in the bright of day to end his life. He was empty. You looked into his eyes and he was just hopeless. It broke my heart. This young man was raised to believe that there was no God, that there is no hope, no objective truth, no meaning in life, and the culture confused his belief on sexuality to the point that he thought the best option was to walk in front of a truck on the highway. 

I don’t tell you this story to try to elicit sympathy. I tell you this story to show what is happening to our children. The suicide rate keeps rising in our state and we are allowing our kids to be stripped of anything that is meaningful or makes life worth living and injecting them with lies and confusion to the point where they are driven by desperation to end their own life. 

This is the fruit of what we are allowing to happen in our State, and we are too afraid to confront it? Let me say this unequivocally: I WILL NOT COMPROMISE WITH EVIL. This is not a political post, so don’t pervert my words to mean that. I’m saying that we cannot play games with people who want to do this to our children. I saw with my own eyes today what the result of that is: DESPAIR, HOPELESSNESS, AND DEATH. The people who perpetuate this will have to stand before the Lord one day and give an account for their actions, but so won’t we if we stand by and let fear paralyze us so we never stand up against this. We need to wage holy war against this evil. Light is supposed to drive out darkness, not join with it. They are doing this to our children and we won’t fight it because of optics, or fear of name calling, or bad press from the BDN, or negative mailers in our district? 

I saw my God alive and active today. He spared this young man’s life who didn’t even believe in Him. I believe this day was meant to be a testimony to everyone at that scene, but also to those who choose to read this post. God is alive and involved in our day to day lives powerfully. I already believed that, but God sent me a powerful reminder today. I know Whom I serve. He is the God of wonders and miracles and is worthy of all glory and honor and praise. So come at me all you keyboard warriors who like to tear me down and attack my faith. Come at me those fellow colleagues (on both sides of the aisle) who ask me to compromise my principles to play politics. I have no fear of you, but you should tremble in holy fear of the God whom you choose to shake your fist at.

I’ll never un-see any of it and that is good because I will also never un-see the power, glory, and goodness of my Lord.