Have you ever felt you were in the right place at the right time? Did you chalk it up to coincidence? Luck? Happen-chance? God’s providence? The following incident happened to our daughter, Shelly, her husband, Scott, and their 4-year old son. See what you think.
Scott had a doctor’s appointment in another town several miles from where they lived. After the appointment, Scott suggested getting a bite to eat at Burger King before heading home. Even though that was their son’s favorite place to eat, Shelly said, “Hmm. No, let’s eat at Perkins.”
While in the restaurant, an elderly man sitting nearby collapsed onto the floor. He turned blue. He stopped breathing and his heart stopped. Shelly leaped to his side, knelt down next to him and started CPR. Scott called 911. The dispatcher gave instructions which Scott relayed to Shelly. But Shelly could not do the chest compressions and the breathing by herself.
Suddenly a woman appeared. “I’m a nurse. Can I help?”
Shelly said for her to do the compressions, and she would do the breathing. After a few minutes, he started breathing and his heart began to pump. The man’s color returned to normal. The paramedics arrived and took him to the hospital. Shelly and Scott turned to thank the nurse, but she was no where to be seen. No one had noticed her enter the restaurant nor did anyone see her leave.
End of Story? Not Quite.
The next day, Scott had to return to the hospital for more tests. As it turned out, they learned the elderly man from the restaurant was just down the hall. Shelly had the opportunity to pray for the man even though he was not breathing on his own and was unresponsive to her presence.
Shelly and Scott wondered what this bizarre incident was all about. It seemed that God had orchestrated every detail including the waitress who sat with their little boy in the booth and entertained him while Shelly and Scott tended to the man in need. And the unexpected appearance of the nurse just at that precise moment only to disappear as suddenly.
Several days later ~
Shelly received a call from the restaurant owner. “I just received a call from the hospital. They said, ‘The elderly man whose life was save at your restaurant is doing well and is expected to make a full recovery. I just thought you might like to know.'”
Some may say, “Wow! What a coincidence you were in the right place at the right time!” Others may recognize how God intervened using two obedient people to go to a particular restaurant at that exact time, and a nurse suddenly appearing on the scene, in order to save an elderly man’s life. Absolutely in the right place at the right time – not by coincidence, luck, or happen-chance, but by God’s intervention.
I would love to hear the man’s “rest of the story.” Maybe some day, we will.