Song Story: God Will Make A Way
From: Don Moen
Late one evening, Don Moen received a phone call with devastating news: his wife’s sister had lost her oldest son in an automobile accident. Craig and Susan Phelps and their four sons were traveling through Texas on their way to Colorado when their van was struck broadside by an eighteen-wheeler truck. All four boys were thrown from the van.
Craig and Susan located their sons by their cries, one boy was lying in the ditch, another in an area wet from melted snow. Nearby was his brother who landed by a telephone pole. All were seriously injured, but when Craig, a medical doctor, reached Jeremy, he found him lying by a fence post with his neck broken. There was nothing Craig could do to revive him.
When Don received the news of this tragedy a few hours later, he recalls, My whole world came to a standstill, but I had to get on a plane the next morning and fly to a recording session that had been scheduled for several weeks. Although I knew Craig and Susan were hurting, I couldn’t be with them until the day before the funeral.
During the flight the morning after the accident, God gave me a song for them: God will make a way where there seems to be no way. He works in ways we cannot see. He will make a way for me. The song was based upon Isaiah 43:19 NASB Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.
This song would bring comfort to Craig and Susan when all hope seemed lost. It touched the hurt in their hearts with hope and encouragement. Don received a letter from Susan in which she quoted Isaiah 43:4 NASB: Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.
Susan wrote, We’ve seen the truth of the scripture. When Jeremy’s friends learned that he had accepted Jesus into his life before he died, many of them began to ask their own parents how they could be assured of going to heaven when they died. The accident also prompted Craig and Susan into a deeper walk with the Lord as well as into new avenues of ministry. Craig began teaching Sunday school at their church and Susan became active in Women’s Aglow, sharing with various groups her story and the Lord’s provision in her time of sorrow.
She has since said, “The day of the accident, when I got out of the van, even before I knew our son was dead, I knew I had a choice. I could be bitter and angry or I could totally accept God and whatever He had for us. I had to make the decision fast. I’ve seen fruit come as a result of that choice. If I had to, I’d do it again. It’s worth knowing others will go to heaven because of what happened to Jeremy. God really did make a way for us!”
