Remarkable Preservation of Life from Lightning in Answer to Prayer.
I was riding on top of the Boulder Pass of the Rocky Mountains, in the summer of 1876, when a sudden storm of rain, wind, and furious tempest came up. There was no shelter from rocks, no trees or buildings to be seen--a lonely, wind-swept summit. I knew that the lightning on those high elevations was fearful in intensity. I was appalled at the prospect before me, but feeling that God had promised to care for his children--"No evil shall befall thee or come nigh thy dwelling"--I composed myself, and though on horseback, with the rain beating in torrents, I offered simple prayer to God that he would save me from the rain and stop it. But No, it came harder than ever; then I prayed that I might be protected from all danger, "for I trusted in Him!"
I rode on and on for miles, chilly, cold, wet through, the clouds hanging low and the lightning flashing above me, around me, striking near me, constant flashes, peals of thunder; but I was not terrified. "God must keep me." Twice I was distinctly struck with the electric flash, detached portions or sparks from the electric cloud, directly in the center of the forehead, but it had no more force than just to close my eyes, shake my head a little, obscure my sight a moment, and then it was all over, and I was clearer, cooler, calmer, happier, and more self-possessed than ever before. I attribute my protection from peril entirely to prayer, and the fierceness of the tempest and the proximity of danger were permitted by the Lord to try my trust. Those portions which struck me, if in ordinary times had been given me from an electric battery in a school-room, a shock with sparks only one-hundredth the size, would have killed me.
I can thus say with thanks, faith was then made perfect in danger, and the Lord was faithful in hearing his child's cry, and delivered him.