Lurkers

It was a maroon Jeep Cherokee, and it was going way too fast down her neighborhood street, so when they passed my daughter Jamie signaled for him to slow down. Looking in her rear view mirror to see if she had had any impact, she was stunned to see him, now in reverse traveling towards her. She passed her driveway and drove to the nearest intersection turned right and was stopped by a red signal light. He squeezed his car in next to her and told her to roll down her window, she said I just wanted you to slow down, this is a neighborhood. He replied that he couldn't hear her, and again said roll down your window. She refused, and he held up a gun, didn't point it at her, just made sure she saw it, that he had had in his lap and with that she blew threw the light to the nearest spot where she knew the security guard often times hung out. He was there and the jeep was gone.

There are lurkers who are cruising around town bored and just looking for trouble, the officer said. He went to her street and kept guard for a bit while she went and picked up Blake at school, and later came to her house for an official report. The event was over, but it scared the daylights out of her, but only for the moment. She is over it but I still am easing through the "what if's". Life can change for any of us at any moment. We are not to live in fear, but we are to live in awareness of what is going on around us. I told this story to my husband at dinner last night and he said something to the effect there are misdirected people all around and when you are confronted with one of them, it is best to try to avoid any interaction with them and flee quickly when you feel your security is compromised.

It was just a gesture to slow down, and it rolled into thunder. My first thought was that God had his angels around her, and I thanked him.
Protection is something that we pray for for our children, our families, our friends, our nation and ourselves. But it is God who has the ability to see calamities of evil that surround us, and it is God who has the ability to place a hedge of protection around us so that evil will not penetrate his bounds. I often think that God has thwarted many a troubled event that I never even knew had surfaced, or has detoured me so that I have not been in harms' way. And when something did occur, I often times think this could have been so much worse, but God sent his angels in my defense. I must constantly remember that when fear knocks, I must let faith answer the door. Fear is a gripping emotion that can only be released by trusting in God with all your heart and knowing with all your heart that God is in control of whatever situation has arisen and it will be resolved according to his will. I thank God each day for his loving watch over the lives of those I love, and my country.

My second thought was how lost a soul of a lurker like this must be. I can't imagine living a life with no valued purpose, and with a heart of hatred and intent to stir the waters of discontent in the lives of someone else. This was mischief at its best. And it was disconcerting and an eye opener that none of us are exempt from the evils of this world. So it is even more reason for us to learn to depend on the assurance that God is in control and to allow him to direct our paths when we are faced with danger. God is the only one greater than the enemy. He knows the ploys and is the interactive security that we want flanking our lives. But in order to stand on that security we must have complete faith in who Christ is, the power Christ has, and the plans and purposes that Christ orchestrates.

I am not scared, but I am now even more aware of my surroundings, and I am sure so is Jamie. We live in a world of good and evil.
And it is through our faith and trust that God gives us the confidence to forge forward in the security that he offers. Christ is our security and in Him we can trust for he does send his angels to guard us. May we call on him in times of trouble and trust him to answer us through our faith.

Psalm 91:10-12
New International Version (NIV)
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

Dear Lord, thank you for your guarding angels. May we trust you to be our overseer and keep us from the hands of those who are lurking to do harm. Amen
Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!