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Get Off The Tracks
I have a conviction that occasionally I have to remind myself of: It is that God will not do anything to us or for us that is not calculated to benefit us. Now, sometimes that help my not come as we expect, as this story illustrates.
It had been a hard winter, and it was not over yet. It was January, and it way Wyoming. The snow was piled up to the eaves of the porch, and packed tight. The barn doors were drifted shut, and the pasture fences had long since disappeared beneath the snow.
The snow machine had become the only way left for the family to feed the horses. Late one evening, Wendy received a phone call saying that her horses were out, and on the railroad tracks. Since her husband was at work, Wendy quickly bundled up, grabbed a scarf and a helmet, and went to find the horses. She searched, but couldn’t find them. Then, thinking that maybe they had returned to their pasture on the other side of the tracks, she decided to cross the tracks. She gave the sled full throttle and started across. Now, up to this point, the tracks had been so packed with snow that crossing had not been a problem. But in the darkness, Wendy had failed to notice that the snow had melted back, exposing the tracks. She slammed to a sudden stop with the sled fully across the tracks, and the skis wedged under the rail.
Frantically, she jumped off and attempted to pull the machine off the tracks, all the while praying, “Help me, Heavenly Father, help me!”
She pulled, looked for a train, and then pulled some more. Then it occurred to her: If a train rounded that corner, she would never hear it in time. She tore off the helmet and reached for the sled again, when suddenly the light of an oncoming freight train rounded the bend and fell upon her. Then very distinctly, a voice came into her mind, and it said, “You have three children at home. Get off the tracks!”
Turning, Wendy began to run, fearing that the speeding train would throw the machine sideways and hit her. She ran as hard as she could, and looked back just as the monster hit the sled, throwing it like a child’s toy 150 yards down the tracks. Stunned and in shock, Wendy couldn’t move or react. Then, trembling and crying, she walked numbly home oblivious to the biting temperatures.
The next day, a sober and grateful family went out to look. They found pieces scattered everywhere, and nothing left of the sled but a twisted piece of metal.
Of her experience, Wendy said, “I know our Heavenly Father answers prayers. I also know that our prayers are not always answered in the way we expect … My prayer for help did not allow me to save the snow machine, but it did save my life.”
May God grant us the faith to accept without murmuring however He chooses to teach us.
Adapted from, “Get Off the tracks!” by Wendy R. Rudder, Ensign, January 1988, pp. 50-51.
Glenn Rawson – June 1998
Music: Seasons, track 11 (edited) – Kurt Bestor
Song: When Your Heart Says No – Don Sterling