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them, and get in the habit of not
creating them.
1 wish visibilíty had been clearer
on my left side before
J
decided to
proceed through the intersection,
but my view was largely blocked by
a tall fence. lt was hard to tell any–
thing was coming until it was too
late.
Be aware of hazards and work to
neutralize them. At home, don't
leave children's toys on steps. Light
stai rwells. Wear goggles at work
when required. As the old saying
goes, an ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure.
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Stay alert at a l/ times.
Abovc al l, co·ncentrate on what
you are doi ng while you are doing
it. Don ' t drive when you are tired
or drowsy.
Never dull yo ur sense of judg–
ment with alcohol or drugs, espe–
cially befare driving. It 's fright–
ening to think how many cars
a round you on the road are being
"controlled" by drunk drivers.
Drinking is a factor in at least
half of auto-accident fatalities.
A large number of job-related
accidents occur because workers
are under the inOuence of var ious
substances. Even common, over–
the-counter cold remedies can
make you less than fully alert and
unready fo r emergency situa–
tions.
Don't work with machinery or
attempt tasks that demand much
attention if you are depressed,
angry or concentrating on some–
thing else.
It
only takes a second
for a crippling acc ident to
do, the more you reduce th e
risks.
But accidents may still occur.
That's why we call them
acci–
dents.
And realize this: There is a
whole realm of "accidents" precipi–
tated by powerful forces to which
we humans can be totally obliv–
ious.
Spirit Wo rld at Work
The Bible tells us that , at present,
evil spirit forces rule this world.
The ancient patriarch J ob, to his
dismay, learned this the hard way.
The book of the Bible bearing his
name tells how all Job's possessions
were destroyed or swept away and
his children killed, seemingly
through a series of inexplicable,
chance happenings. But the Bible
reveals, even in this case, cause and
effect. Sat an himself was
the cause of these "acci–
dents."
That same Satan is st ill
operating today, and God
may allow Satan to cause
an "accident" as God
himself works out sorne
greater purpose.
O f course, Satan can
neve r do more than
exactly what God allows,
but God sometimes le ts
certain events occur for
our own good or the
good of others. At times
God may be trying to
teach us lessons or draw
our attention to some–
thing. That was the case
us from harm as we trust and obey
him, and we need to bp ldly claim
such promises from him (Psalm
9 1:11-12). I know God protected
me from worse, and that he has
sped my healing. It is Satan-not
God- who takes glee in the suffer–
ing of humans.
Take Charge of Your Lite
How to avoid tragic accidents? In
short, take charge of your life. God
did not intend life to be a harrow–
ing roller-coaster ride of one hap–
hazard, harmful event and setback
after another.
You are in cont rol. You needn't
be a vict im. You must exercise
character.
When we follow the way the
Bible teaches-the way of outgoing
conccrn for others, of loving our
neighbor as ourselves, of staying
occur.
•
Be prepared for the
unexpected.
Despite the most elab–
orate precautions, unfor–
tunate mishaps will occa–
sionally occur. This is not
T
ake all the precautions you can.
an automobile, wear a seat belt.
When In
an excuse for throwing
caution to the wind and
deciding not to take any safety pre–
cautions a t all.
1 knew a man who refused to
wear safety belts while driving
because, he said , he feared being
trapped in the car after an acci–
dent.
It
was a poor excuse-an
unrealistic fear, given the odds.
Take it from me- l ' d r a ther
remain in the car than go through
the windshield. The more you can
November/ December 1984
with J ob. My own experie nce has
given me much more empathy for
others who have suffered .
The Bible also tells us that time
and chance happen to everyone
(Ecclesiastes 9:11 ). Sometimes, in
spite of tbe best-laid plans and pre–
cautions, God may allow "acci–
dents" to occur for sorne future
good.
But God also promises to protect
positive and alert and enthusiastic
at all times-we will be much less
accident- prone.
We all need to learn what
God's instructions are and follow
them in every si t uation. We can
all avoid a lot of suffering if we
remember that cause and effect
are a lways at work, and s t r ive to
remove the causes of t ragic acci–
dents.
o
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