The Day That Changed My Direction

When Ambition Came First

For much of my life, I was driven by ambition. I was always chasing the next goal, the next business opportunity, the next accomplishment. I wanted to succeed, but I didn't always recognize what that pursuit was costing me.

I made mistakes. I lived with regrets. I wasn't always the father, family member, or man I wanted to be. And although I had been baptized at fourteen, I had never truly made God the center of my life.

Years later, becoming involved in a church began changing the way I looked at faith. I started asking harder questions about my life, my choices, and the direction I was heading.

A Prayer I Could No Longer Put Off

During a difficult season, I was preparing to start a new business venture. But I was struggling with a decision much bigger than business: Was I finally willing to put God first, not just in words, but in the way I lived and worked?

One stormy night, I couldn't sleep. I had been thinking about a scripture I had placed on my mirror, and I kept noticing the Bible on my nightstand. Before leaving early the next morning for a business trip, I picked it up and prayed aloud.

I asked God to show me that He was with me, and that I was moving in the direction He wanted me to follow. I wasn't asking for an easy road. I was asking for clarity, and for the courage to put Him first.

The Highway

I placed the Bible in my computer bag on the passenger seat and headed out into the rain. After taking care of business in another city, I continued south through Georgia. The thunderstorms were still heavy, and the interstate was crowded.

Then, without warning, my truck lost its grip on the road.

I began spinning across the interstate, surrounded by moving traffic. In those terrifying moments, I believed my life was ending. My thoughts turned to my children and my mother. I thought about the time I wished I had spent with them, the things I wished I had done differently, and the people I desperately hoped would not be hurt.

Somehow, the truck made it through the traffic and into the median. Water and the terrain slowed it before it struck the guardrail. When everything stopped, I was alive.

The Bible Beside Me

I was shaken, but the truck could still move. Eventually I made it off the interstate and stopped at a gas station. I sat there trying to understand what had just happened.

Things inside the truck had been thrown everywhere. My computer bag was on the floor. But the Bible I had carried that morning was lying beside me on the passenger seat.

I remembered my prayer. For the first time that day, I began wondering whether the answer I had asked for had been closer than I realized.

The Phone Call and the Bracelet

Not long afterward, a friend called unexpectedly. He told me he had been reading Corinthians and felt strongly that he needed to check on me. When I told him what had happened, we were both amazed by the timing.

Later, at my destination, I shared the experience with others. A woman who had heard my story handed me a bracelet that had been brought into the location. The words on it were simple:

Those were the very words I had been searching for that morning. I had prayed for reassurance that God was with me. Between the accident, the Bible, the phone call, and the bracelet, I experienced something that changed the way I understood my faith and my future.

A Different Foundation

That day did not erase my mistakes or make every struggle disappear. But it changed my priorities. I began to understand that success means very little if we lose sight of the people we love, the choices we make, and the purpose behind what we do.

I no longer wanted faith to be something I turned to only when life became difficult. I wanted it to guide my decisions, my relationships, and my work.

Today, God is the first person I speak to each morning and the last person I speak to before I go to sleep. I continue to rely on Him throughout my day. I'm still learning, still growing, and still responsible for the choices I make.