Well, one afternoon before I went into work for the closing shift, I was reading His word and soaking up the lovely summer sunshine. I came across the verse in Psalm 17:8 "Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of thy wings" and I remember thinking, "Wow, what do you mean by that, Lord? Would you teach me?" Then a few hours later I needed to leave on my bike for work.
I did all right that night for a Friday night, got through "the bar rush" fine w/ no obnoxious customers. After cleaning up & prepping for the breakfast shift, I started biking home about 4am. I am singing to myself praise songs as I headed home when a convertible came up along side me filled with young men. They started hooting & hollering, I just kept biking. I took some unexpected turns, and the carload of young men just kept following me. Hmmm, not a great situation. After a few more turns, I was starting to panic and asked the Lord for some help.
The carload was going around the block, since a bike is a lot slower, even though I was pedaling like crazy. Then the Lord answered my plea by saying, "turn here, go this way, ok, now stop!"
"What do you want me to do with my bike?" "Just leave it and stand right here by this tree" "But Lord, I am right on the edge of the curb! The reflectors of my bike..." "STOP! Don't breathe, don't blink, don't look anywhere, just stare straight ahead." So I did, and the car turned the corner and drove right past me and my white legs, white shirt, dark shorts (I wanted to be visible, just like they teach you in school...). "Ok, now breathe" said God. The tires on my bike were still spinning. I looked down and my toes are nearly at the curb's edge before the street. "Stop! Don't breathe, don't move, don't blink" and I didn't for what seemed like an eternity.. though no car came by, I thought I heard someone walking or running quietly. "Ok, now breathe" "Stop!...." and the car drove s-l-o-w-l-y past. "Ok, now breathe again." "Can I itch my nose?" "No - don't breathe..." and someone walked by on the other side of the street.
When the person turned the corner, He let me breathe briefly, then I needed to stop again. Once again, the car drove slowly past & this time it was nearly against the edge of the curb! "Lord!" "It's okay, I have you my child, just think of me and don't move." Well, my eyes were somewhat downcast all ready, so I left them there - only to see the people driving by looking right past me and my white legs - and now there were only three people in the car instead of a bunch. I heard them saying, "Wow man, it was so weird - she was there pedaling, and then she wasn't there when we came back around. It's like she VANISHED!" They stopped, and spoke to a couple people coming down the alley, then the people walked on and the car drove on.
This kept happening for what seemed like hours. I would hear the car circle further and further out, yet still be commanded at different times to stop breathing and moving. Finally, God gave me the "OK" to move away from that spot, yet He gave distinct directions as I rode home. I could still hear the car and the young men talking as they continued to try to find me, but God was with me as I rode my bike to my doorstep. He cautioned me to bring my bike inside the door and quickly turn off the light, so I did. The car drove up our driveway, right on the other side of the door where I was standing, and then on into the alleyway & away!
My roommates were up and frantic that I hadn't gotten home from work earlier. I was just so tired I told them I would explain when I woke up later. As I pulled down the covers to my bed and moved my Bible, my eyes fell upon the verse once more, "Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of thy wings" - and then I KNEW HE HAD! God had protected me, hiding me in the shadow of His wings, blinding my pursuers! Oh, what a good God we serve!
No comments:
Post a Comment