05.09.14

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ - Isaiah 41:10 NKJV.

Kristin Hopkins can be thankful that an unknown man stopped along a highway in Colorado to take some photos and somehow spotted her wrecked car. The man apparently thought that whoever was inside the vehicle was dead, reported it to the local Sheriff’s Office and left. Kristin, a 43-year-old mother, was still clinging to life after a horrific accident. For whatever reason, her car flew off the roadway for about 120 feet and then rolled another 200 feet into a clump of trees. The crash alone should have killed her, but she survived for five days without food or water. 

Kistin somehow near the end of her ordeal found the strength to push a red and white umbrella through a small opening. She had written on the umbrella, “Six days, no food, no water; please help me; need a doctor.” It sounds like from most recent news reports that Kristin will survive although both of her feet have been amputated. One of the emergency responders, firefighter Jim Cravener, said: “She really had a strong will to survive.” (05.07.14 CNN; NBC News; USA Today; ABC News; New York Daily News and various other news venues)

Life can be challenging to say the least! Most of us will not have to face a challenge as horrific as Kristin Hopkins faced and is now facing as she recovers. However, we will all face challenges of one form or another in life, to one degree or another. Many of us have faced difficult health issues, others have suffered the death of a loved one, others like Kristin have faced the challenge of recovering from severe accidents. Then there are financial challenges, job challenges, and multitudes of other challenges that we humans may suddenly encounter.

Kristin Hopkins has given us an example of what to do when faced with an extreme life challenge. The example she gives is this: DON’T GIVE UP! Keep on living, keep on surviving, keep on breathing, until help arrives. 

God gives us in Isaiah 41:10, a great promise. God says, “Fear not…” Why should we “Fear not?” Because God says, “I am with you….” If that is not enough God affirms that we should “fear not” because, “I am your God.” But knowing how weak we are God goes even further and says, “I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” God would say to you who are struggling, who face overwhelming difficulties in life, through Isaiah 41:10 this one thing, DON’T GIVE UP!