Speaker 1: 0:01

It's time now to get the hell out of your life. A weekly broadcast with real people sharing real struggles and offering real hope. Today's show will encourage, inspire and empower you to face life's challenges with a bold confidence and renewed hope. Now let's join our host, ron Myers. The promoter.

Ron Meyers: 0:22

Hello, my friends, it is so good to be with you once again. I have a question what happens when God wakes you up at night with an urgent message? Well, my guest today, Sharon Rivas, faced every parent's worst nightmare when her 18-year-old daughter, Bethany died in a car accident. But this story which you will hear today begins hours before the tragedy, when Sharon was awakened by God to pray for her daughter. A fascinating story. I know you will be encouraged, because God is working in all the details of all of our lives. Let's take a listen to Walking Through the Fire with Sharon Rivas.

Sharon Rivas: 1:06

My story matters. It has touched many lives. I spoke for 10 years for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. But let me tell you, as you mentioned, we were a Christian, a devout Christian family. But when my daughter was 18, she moved out and moved in with her boyfriend and quit going to church and said that she wasn't sure if she believed in God anymore. So that was a cause for concern and every morning at 530, I would get up and have devotions and pray for her and ask God to bring her back to him, back to her faith.

Sharon Rivas: 1:37

And one night, as I was really drifted off to sleep, a thought that was so loud in my head woke me up and said pray for Bethany, pray for Bethany. And it was about 10 o'clock at night and I said oh, my goodness, I'm dead tired, it's Sunday night, I have to get up and go to work tomorrow. Let me just pray when I have my devotions tomorrow at 530. But the voice was even louder in my head and it said roll over on your back, you can't go back to sleep, you need to pray for your daughter. And I said why, lord? What's going on? And he said I need you to pray to release her soul to me tonight and I should have realized then that something very, very wrong was going to happen. He said you've been praying for your daughter to come back to me. Are you willing to allow even suffering and death for me to use even that to bring your daughter back to me? And I said no. But I realized that he was just waiting for me, with free will, to make that decision, and I cried and I wept and I said to myself do I want my daughter here with me in life or do I want to know that her soul is with God and she'll be forever in eternity with him? And I cried for one hour before I could make a decision and I finally told God all right, god, I'm releasing her soul to you, but on one condition please send someone to hold her and pray with her to her last breath.

Sharon Rivas: 2:52

And then, just exhausted from crying, I had cried for one hour, about 11 o'clock when I looked at the clock, when I told God that, and at 3 am the phone rang, it was the hospital and they said come immediately to the hospital. Your daughter's been in an accident. And we discovered that she had been killed. And, as far as we understood, we thought she had been killed instantly and I was very overwhelmed. We thought that she'd just died immediately in the car crash. A few hours later, when we contacted a police chief, he said well, actually, did you know that a lady resuscitated your daughter and she lived for a few minutes and that's why we sent a life helicopter out, life Flight, thinking that she might live. But then she died a few minutes later. But there was a lady with her and so I prayed. Please, god, give me the. Let me know what happened.

Sharon Rivas: 3:38

The next day our pastor knocked on the door early in the morning and he said a lady ordered flowers and said it was imperative that we get this letter to you that she had written and it was from the lady who resuscitated my daughter. And she said I want you to know that I was there holding and praying with your daughter until her last breath. And she said I had been getting ready for bed and God said stop, I need you to do something for me. And it was in March, so it was cold out. She got her coat and sat out on the porch and she just kept sitting there, not knowing why, and she went out there at 10 o'clock and was sitting there until 11. And at 11 o'clock she heard a crash and she had some medical knowledge and knew how to resuscitate. She jumped in her car. She already had her coat on, wasn't undressed. She drove to her car. She was already had her coat on, wasn't undressed. She drove to the car to the site, she saw Bethany laying in the road and the thought in her head said revive that girl and pray with her. And she got out and she rushed over to her and at first, you know, she was dead. She took her pulse and she, you know, was dead. But she resuscitated her and the thought said pray with this girl, pray out loud, pray with her. And so she prayed over her and as she held her she told us that she felt. We did have a chance to talk with her later, so I'm giving details that she gave, even as we met her in person. She said she felt Bethany's soul, that she made peace with God and it went right through her as she held her and she said Bethany's soul was at peace, she'd made peace with God.

Sharon Rivas: 5:23

No-transcript.

Sharon Rivas: 5:27

My daughter had said when she was young that she wanted to be a missionary, that her greatest desire was to be a missionary and this is from her diary quote go all over the world telling people about God, unquote.

Sharon Rivas: 5:37

And you know, when she wandered away from the Lord, I just gave up on that dream for her and especially when she died, I said well, that's it. You know, bethany's dream of being a missionary will never come true, going all over the world speaking for God. But when I went to the Dallas convention it was a Manatee convention they had people there from countries all over the world and they had a booth of people translating everything I said. And there were sections of people from Korea you know wherever they were, all over the world Italy, Spain, africa, you know all over and they had headphones on. And as I told my story and I saw all the different groups of international people listening to her story, I realized that Bethany's dream had been fulfilled, that they were hearing her story and the story of God ministering to Bethany for people all over the world.

Ron Meyers: 6:26

Wow.

Sharon Rivas: 6:27

So Bethany in death was able to do and accomplish what she had not done in life and I just praise God. Don't ever give up on a dream. Don't ever give up on someone coming back to God and to their faith. It might happen at the last moment, the last split second. It took that woman to tell me that she felt Bethany's soul go right through her body as it passed and that she knew that. She knew that she knew because as she prayed with Bethany, everything her heart rate, her breathing, calmed as she prayed with her and she became very peaceful and she said I knew that Bethany was listening and that she had made peace with God and was ready to go home. So God can reach someone in the last moments of their life, in the last breath of their life.

Ron Meyers: 7:12

Wow, Sharon, I really did not know that depth of the story and my heart breaks. And you know, one thing I want to touch on I think it is so important that people hear how God woke you up and then how he woke this good Samaritan, this lady, up. You knew something was going on with Bethany before you got that call at three o'clock in the morning. Because of your relationship with God, God is concerned about every single human being on this planet, isn't he?

Sharon Rivas: 7:46

Yes, he is. And in the book. When the editor approached me, I had done a little booklet about the story to send out. My husband was a pastor and we had pastored other churches and so I made up some booklets about the story to send to the church's people, our Friends, and someone had given it to an editor of a Christian publishing company and she said who do you want this book to reach? And she thought I was going to talk about the drunk driving crowd or my Christian brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Sharon Rivas: 8:14

And I said no, the atheists, because there's too many people who don't believe there's a God. And how did I hear God? How did I know that was God's voice? That woke me up? It's because I had nurtured a relationship with God. When I tell people it's like a Christmas tree. You can buy a Christmas tree, set it up, put ornaments on it and even string lights on it, but unless you plug it into the power socket it doesn't light up. So you can have a Bible, you can even read it, maybe go to church or watch a TV program with an evangelist speaking church, or watch a TV program with an evangelist speaking, but until you get a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you don't have the power, you don't have the connection. You need that relationship and I had developed that and I knew it was God talking.

Sharon Rivas: 8:54

And the book is full of miracles, ron. The book is full of miracles that had transpired over my life that God had answered over and over and over, till I knew his voice. And I knew, when he woke me up, that it was serious, that I needed to obey, and I believed. That's why I said send someone to hold her and pray with her till her last breath, because I believed in my heart that God could do it. And I found out that he did and it was, you know, just a miraculous story.

Sharon Rivas: 9:23

If readers do get that book it's also an e-book on Amazon they will find out that God can meet you and speak with you in the smallest things in life. God doesn't interfere in our lives unless we ask him to help us. Only then does he intervene, which means help. He gives us free will, so he doesn't interfere. But if we ask him for help, ron, he will intervene and help us in the small things and the big things. And I'm so glad that I nurtured small things so that when it came time for a big thing like my daughter's death, I knew that God would be in that situation as well and that he could do the miracles that he did.

Ron Meyers: 9:59

Sharon, you said something that is so important. It begins with those little baby steps. You have got to be in touch with God in that relationship so much that you will recognize his voice, because, as you said, there are people right now that have been in church their whole life but they wouldn't recognize God's voice because they've never spent time with God other than on Sunday. If we want God to speak to us and warn us and encourage us in our life, it is a day-to-day, minute-to-minute relationship, isn't it? Yes, it is. What kind of feedback are you hearing from people that have read the book?

Sharon Rivas: 10:39

Oh, my goodness, it's staggering. I have people who've emailed me and have emailed the editor, that they were devout atheists and after reading my book they could no longer hold that opinion. I had someone tell me I've been an atheist all my life and now that I've read your book, I don't know what to do. It has completely upturned my worldview and now I'm having to decide what I'm going to do about it. It happened to be a man at work At the time. I worked at a construction firm, so there's a lot of tough people that had a lot of foul language going on. But this one person said I don't know what to do about it, sharon, I need to think about it. And I ended up leaving that company and going on to another position, better position. But I notice now we're friends on Facebook and he posts things about God all the time, so I know that at some point he went from being an atheist to now being a very devout believer.

Sharon Rivas: 11:31

We've had emails from people in 20 different countries who have either read it online and they all say that it changed their lives and young people who read it. When I talk to them about the drunk driving issue, one time I had a young man who was a waiter in a restaurant and when we gave the credit card he said oh, rebus. He said I thought you looked familiar. Are you Bethany's mom? And I said yes, how do you know about Bethany?

Sharon Rivas: 11:56

He said you spoke in my high school two years ago and at the time I was hungover. I had been to a party and drinking till late in the night. And he said I was hungover. But I saw your slide, you know your PowerPoint of Bethany and heard her story and I want you to know that I have not had a drink of alcohol since and it's been two years, and my mother would hug you because I was a lost cause. They had grounded me and disciplined me. But it was your daughter's story that got me to change my life and I haven't had a drop of liquor since.

Ron Meyers: 12:27

So I know that her story is reaching people. Sharon, that little missionary, bethany, is actively working right now on this radio show, the podcast, and in your book and your unselfishness in releasing her that night when God was speaking to you now has literally touched hundreds, maybe thousands, of people across the world, hasn't it?

Sharon Rivas: 12:50

Yes, she is the missionary. She has fulfilled that dream.

Ron Meyers: 12:53

Sharon, right now there are some naysayers, some doubters, some atheists that are listening. You have an opportunity to speak to them. What would you say?

Sharon Rivas: 13:00

Well, two things. Please read this story because there's so many miracles that are beyond coincidence. They're providence and there's a difference. They're just absolutely beyond the pale of coincidence. So please read the story. But also because we have free will. God, as I said earlier, does not interfere in our lives. So somebody can say to me I've never heard God speak, but that is because you've never asked him a question. Please ask him and allow him to answer it and start that communication, start that relationship with him.

Ron Meyers: 13:31

In my book I talk about the voice that saved me many times and a lot of people look at me or think, boy, that guy's a little kooky.

Sharon Rivas: 13:41

He talks with God and it will be a thought that's not your own. Yes, you can ask a question that you don't know the answer to and he'll give you the answer. It may be a thought in your head, or the next magazine article that you pick up and read. Something you hear on the radio, or even in a song, will minister to you. But you know that, you know that, you know that God is answering you.

Ron Meyers: 14:02

Sharon, I just have so much respect and love for you and for what you're doing and little Bethany, missionary across the world, and I'm so glad that you were able to share her story with me and my listeners. Listeners, this is a powerful story. Share this podcast, share this radio show with other people and Sharon, god bless you and is there anything you'd like to say? Please do.

Sharon Rivas: 14:29

Well, I'm just. I encourage people to listen to this podcast and to read Ron Meyer's book. That book inspired me and touched me. I tell you I couldn't put it down. Oh, my goodness. Your book is just as encouraging and inspirational as mine is about miracles and about tragedy and God getting us through the trial. So anyone out there listening get Ron Meyer's book because it is phenomenal Many miracles and hearing God's voice and even your attempt as a child. You know, I guess the listeners I don't know if they know about your suicide attempt and hearing that voice and being rescued. So his book is a page turner.

Ron Meyers: 15:07

Sharon, what would you tell the person that has given up hope? They are just simply hopeless.

Sharon Rivas: 15:12

Well, the worst fear that you can imagine at least that I had always imagined was losing a child. That was the one thing that I thought I could never face. And yet I did face that. But it was with God's supernatural, unbelievable I say supernatural strength and comfort that he afforded our family and all the miracles that began happening before her death, as I just talked about. But after, there were many miracles that happened afterwards that confirmed us that he was still helping, bringing us messages of comfort and hope. It was amazing, that kind of strength.

Sharon Rivas: 15:53

So, whatever it is you're going through an illness or a job situation, or even a fear that you have that you might lose a loved one I can tell you that if you have a relationship with God, when the worst possible things happen you lose a job then God provides a better one. An illness God can do. I've had healing. I've had healing in my life of illnesses that the doctor said wouldn't be healed and they were. Whether he heals us or stops the tragedy from happening, or helps us through it, helps us get through it and turns that test into a testimony. Either way, if we have that relationship with God and we say God, no matter what happens. I trust you. And I did lose my daughter that night. At first I prayed God, please don't let her die, please don't let her die. But then I said not my will, but yours, god.

Sharon Rivas: 16:46

Not my will, but thine be done. And in allowing that, then you know it was an hour that I prayed until she and that was when the wreck finally happened was after I said all right, god, it's in your hands. At 11 o'clock the accident occurred and it was after I had finished saying all right, god, I give her to you. She didn't die in that wreck for one hour as I prayed, trying to make up my mind, but I did learn that she would have been severely injured and probably would have been a vegetable the rest of her life if she hadn't died and so in death. As I said, she's been a missionary and been able to reach many lives.

Ron Meyers: 17:19

Sharon, I would just love for you to tell maybe one of your favorite stories about Bethany as she was growing up and that, so we can kind of get a picture of this precious beautiful child of yours.

Sharon Rivas: 17:32

Oh, I would love to. When she was young she was very, very close to God as well and would always pray. And this one time we had been in a car accident, it was prior to the holidays and our attorney, through all the you know, getting the money from the insurance company, he said now they're going to be closed over the holidays, you're not going to get that check until after January 1st. And we were a little tight on funds and Bethany knew that and we said it was. We kind of hinted that it was going to be a very slim Christmas that year. And so we came home.

Sharon Rivas: 18:06

I came home from work and she was sitting on the porch and she said, mom, I've prayed and I asked God to have that check come before Christmas. We need that check tomorrow. And so God has reassured me that he'll get that check to us tomorrow. I said, oh, honey, no, no, the offices are going to be closed, remember, and it takes like 30 days to process or whatever. So we're not going to get that for a few weeks. She goes well. I asked God and he said that, since I had great faith and I had asked him for this, that he would provide. And I, you know I felt so bad because I didn't want God to fail her.

Sharon Rivas: 18:35

But the phone rang that evening and the attorney said this has never happened to me. I've been an attorney for 30 years. This has never happened. They've never taken less than three to four weeks to process a claim or whatever it was. It was several weeks. And he said and they've done it in 48 hours. You can pick up the check at my office tomorrow. And we picked it up and we went and bought Christmas gifts. She said see, I told you God would come through. And that was her kind of faith and in some ways she taught me. She taught me great lessons of faith. I know that she came back, you know, when she was in that last, those last moments, she knew who to call out to. She knew that God was there, waiting, like the prodigal son, you know, the father waiting at the end of the road for her to come home. And I know she ran to him and he gathered her into his arms and said welcome home, bethany.

Ron Meyers: 19:22

Yeah, well done, good and faithful servant. Amen. Listeners, the title of the book is when you Walk Through the Fire. Sharon, where do listeners get a copy of your book?

Sharon Rivas: 19:32

It is available on Amazon and there's also an e-book that you can get through Amazon on Kindle.

Ron Meyers: 19:38

Listeners, if you need a faith lift, this is the book to read, because this will give you not only faith, but you'll begin a conversation with God. Sharon, I want to ask you this how do I get through the fire that I'm walking through right now? Please give me some advice.

Sharon Rivas: 19:53

Well, make sure that God is going through the fire with you, just like the children in the fiery furnace in the Bible. They were in the furnace and the king looked in and said but I see a fourth man in white who's with them. And as you know the story, they were not burned, you know their hair singed and they lived. It doesn't mean that you'll never be in the fire, but if you have God with you, then you can withstand the fire.

Ron Meyers: 20:18

Somebody out there listening that has a prodigal daughter or son that has not come back. You're giving them a little bit of hope, Sharon. Anything you want to say to them.

Sharon Rivas: 20:27

Well, just don't give up, because I didn't know until a few months later, after we met the lady, that she gave me the details about holding Bethany and the prayer and feeling Bethany make peace with God. And you know, her soul was free when it left. And so, as I say, god can reach someone in the very last second of their last breath, even a suicide. The last thought that goes through their mind may be God help me. Amen, or I'm sorry, or, god, into your hands I commit my spirit. Do not give up we don't know the final story until we get to the other side because God is there in the last seconds of someone's life, loving them, caring for them and calling them to him.

Ron Meyers: 21:12

Wow, what are you thinking? Her testimony serves as a powerful reminder about the nature of prayer, divine timing and spiritual relationships. Sharon emphasized that hearing God's voice wasn't a random occurrence, but the result of nurturing an ongoing relationship with him through consistent communication. She explained it beautifully using the metaphor of a Christmas tree. You can set it up with ornaments and lights, but unless you plug it in, it doesn't light up. Similarly, one might have religious knowledge or practices, but without a personal relationship with God through Jesus, the connection lacks power. So today it's time to plug into Jesus and hear what he needs you to hear and hear what he needs you to hear.

Speaker 1: 22:09

You're listening to Get the Hell Out of your Life with your host, ron Myers. Real stories, real struggles and real hope.

Speaker 4: 22:16

The tragedies and storms of life can sometimes seem like you are walking through fire, but rest assured that Jesus is always there to help you. My name is Mark and this is the Journey I remember when my wife of nearly 20 years was battling cancer. The thought of losing her was overwhelming to the point that I honestly did not know what to do. The anguish was nearly unbearable, but God carried me through it all. Life sometimes brings fires that burn deep and storms that can shake our very foundation. You know it's easy to feel alone, weak and uncertain, but God offers us something powerful and unshakable His peace and His presence.

Speaker 4: 22:57

Philippians chapter 4 reminds us to not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. This peace doesn't come from the absence of hardship, but from developing a personal relationship with Jesus. He's the friend who hears every whispered prayer, the Savior who walks with us through every storm and the shepherd who carries us when we cannot take another step, when the burdens of life are too heavy. He comes close and strengthens us, and sometimes he simply carries us, just like he did with me when my wife passed away. So I encourage you to spend time with Jesus, praise him in the good times and lean on Him in the bad. The more you know Him, the more you learn to trust that, even when everything else is uncertain, he remains faithful, no matter the storm, no matter the fire.

Speaker 5: 24:16

Jesus is with you and he will carry you through the Journey.

Speaker 6: 24:24

What's your story? We're looking for stories of hope and overcoming life's struggles with God's grace. Your story validates God's love, mercy, restoration and forgiveness. We want to help you share your story with the world. Visit our website, thepromoterorg, and click on the share your story link and submit your story.

Speaker 4: 24:53

Your testimony of God's amazing grace will change a person's destiny for eternity. Ron, we'll be back in a moment to wrap up today's conversation. We want to encourage you today with God's promise to you. It comes from the book of Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 11. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and the future. That's God's promise to you when you choose to commit your plans and future to Him Now back to Ron.

Ron Meyers: 25:28

Well, friends, my time is up, and today's powerful story demonstrates the reality of faith beyond religious routines. It's about having a relationship with God so intimate that you recognize his voice, trust his guidance and experience his comfort, even in life's most devastating fires. Through Sharon and Bethany's story, we were reminded that faith isn't just about believing certain facts, but about walking with God through every circumstance, both joyful and painful, and trusting that even in our deepest sorrows, we can become vessels for reaching others with hope. I'll be back next week with another great episode of Get the Hell Out of your Life, available on all podcast platforms, so please tell someone In the meantime, remember this I love you, jesus loves you, jesus loves you, and when you give your heart to Jesus, not only do you get the hell out of your life, but you will begin to hear the voice of truth.

Speaker 1: 26:43

Today's show is proudly underwritten by the Christmas City Gift Show. Mark your calendars for November 7th through the 9th and experience the magic inside the Christmas City Gift Show inside the Mississippi Coast Convention Center located on the beach in Biloxi, mississippi. For more information, visit ChristmasCityGiftShowcom. If you would like to be a guest and share your story of God's amazing grace, visit our website thepromoterorg and click the Share your Story tab button. Thanks for listening, and if you would like to listen to previous episodes, click on the podcast tab at thepromoterorg. Join us next week for another edition of Get the Hell Out of your Life Real stories, real struggles and real hope.

Speaker 4: 27:29

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