God’s Protection in a Split Second
Photo taken just after Pastor Lloyd Pulley miraculously escaped a near collision on May 23.
Pastor Lloyd Pulley
“The hand of God was indeed there,” Lloyd Pulley rejoiced following his miraculous rescue from a potentially fatal near collision. Lloyd, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Old Bridge, NJ, experienced God’s protection “in a truly remarkable way” on May 23 as a young man speeding on the highway nearly rear-ended his car.
Around 6 a.m. that day, he was signaling to turn left into a Christian brother’s driveway for a workout. “A young man traveling quite fast didn’t see me turning and swerved to the right at the last second. He flew over an embankment, crashed, and his car flipped upside down,” Lloyd reported.
“Rushing over to the car, I heard him screaming and banging on the window, unable to get out from the inside. I was able to pry open the door, and he flew out, stunned but alive. I had the privilege of praying with him when he calmed down afterward, thanking the Lord that both of us walked away from what could’ve been a much more tragic morning.”
Remarkably, the local police officer who responded to the call was a brother in the Lord who had grown up at CC Old Bridge. “He helped retrieve the video footage of the rear view showing just how close that collision with me had been. We both marveled at the providence of God in that moment,” Lloyd added.
The miracles continued. “But even more amazing was that at the moment of the near impact, I was on a hands-free Zoom call with our men’s prayer group at the time, right as someone was praying for my protection (which I thought was a strangely random request). I told them about the accident and asked for prayer; I thought I had closed the call. Not only did they hear the crash live, but they continued praying through the entire ordeal, hearing some colorful language—not exactly typical for a prayer meeting—from the distraught young man.”
The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. Psalm 28:7
Lloyd admitted he is grateful beyond words. “Yesterday morning could have turned out so differently, but the Lord is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” He is still praying for the young man, Brian. “When I asked if I could pray for him after he was calm, he agreed, and I thanked God for sparing us and told him that there was a purpose for him to be alive.”
Lloyd noted that he received a lot of feedback from people who saw a reflective light around the 17-second mark of the video—perhaps an angel? “For my part, the timing of the prayer, the Christian police officer who was a former member of the church, and that we were spared by a millisecond and an inch weigh more on my mind than [possibly] seeing an angel in a reflection.” Lloyd concluded.
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