Divine Protection

Many are the plans in a man's heart,
but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21

I woke up, drank my coffee and got ready for the day. I started school with Randol; checked email; took Foster to Speech Therapy; ate lunch with Wesley; put the boys down for a nap; talked to my mom and sister on the phone; played around on Photoshop; made homemade pizza for dinner; cleaned the kitchen and left for Publix to pick up a prescription.


There was nothing unusual, nothing out of the ordinary, just a regular 'ole day.


It was dark outside when I pulled in the parking lot of Publix. I noticed that there were a lot of cars. I decided to take a parking spot farther back than I would have liked, rather than wait for someone to leave so that I could park closer. On the way to the store I had been praying that God would make me a good steward of our money-more that I wouldn't buy things we didn't need in the 20 minutes I'd have to wait for the prescription to be filled. As I parked the car, I noticed my envelope of clipped coupons on the floor. It is an envelope that I rarely remember to use. I went to get out of the car and I got this overwhelming feeling that I needed to flip through those coupons. "That is silly! All I'm buying is milk and apple juice! I don't need any coupons for that!"


I got out of the car, keys in my hand with the car door still open and I felt it again-Marion! Get in the car and look at those coupons! I laughed out loud, thinking maybe I was weaker than I thought and God was trying to help me save some money. I got back in the car, closed the door and flipped through the envelope of coupons. After a minute or two I said out loud-"This is silly Lord, all I'm buying is Foster's prescription and some milk and apple juice to get us through the weekend-there aren't any coupons for those things!"


I opened my car door to get out and suddenly the car alarm went off. Lights were flashing and sirens were going off all around me. Startled, I closed my door, and tried frantically to figure out how to make it all stop. I was driving the new car we bought Wesley the week after Christmas (a whole other blog post about God's provision in that!) so I was not familiar with the alarm system in this car! There was an alarm button on the key ring and I figured that I must have accidentally pushed it. I finally figured out how to make the noise stop, then I sat in the car for a minute or two. Making very careful not to push any buttons on my key ring, I opened the door again.


BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! The alarm went off again and it felt as though something was pushing against the door. Lights flashing, sirens blaring and me scrounging around trying once again to figure out how to turn them off. Suddenly, like a light bulb going off, I realized-this was no accident, God was protecting me from something. I sat there, heart beating, and tried to figure out what to do. Should I just go home? Do I sit in the car for a while? Do I go inside?


I prayed and asked God that if I needed to go home, to please let the alarm go off again and I would take that as my sign not to get out of the car and go in the store. Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened the car door.


No alarm. The air was calm and crisp in a way I cannot describe. I got out of the car, locked it and started walking into the store. I looked around the parking lot and didn't see a soul.


Walking briskly towards the door, out of no where, a man appeared. He was built like a body builder, wearing sweat pants with a toboggan pulled over his head. Walking behind him, I could see his huge back muscles through his shirt. He had a strut and kept constantly looking back and forth. Once looking over his left shoulder, he made eye contact with me. I got this shiver go down my spine. All I could think of was that he could snap me like a twig if he wanted to. I knew that man was either the predator God was protecting me from or he was my guardian angel, walking me safely inside the store. Two different extremes, but he was related to the whole incident-somehow.


I went in the store, looked back and I could see his broad shoulders walk down an aisle and then disappear. I sat, waiting for Foster's prescription, thanking God for His divine protection. I prayed asking Him if it was safe to go buy milk and juice. After walking down an aisle, I ran into my mother-in-laws, best friend from high school. She has the sweetest smile and the cheeriest voice. We small-talked and went about our separate ways. Walking away, I thanked God for her. She didn't know what had just happened, but He did. He had placed her in that aisle to remind me to smile-that everything was going to be OK.


Driving home, I thought of my regular 'ole ordinary day. I thought of the short kiss to my husband and children before I'd left to go to the store. What we had thought was going to be a thirty minute goodbye-could have been forever. That night, I kept thinking of all the things I would have missed sharing with my husband and in my children's lives if I left this world that day. Instead of spending my time thanking Him for saving me from someone or something lurking in the dark-I was swimming in "What if's" in my head. I woke up in the middle of the night and I suddenly remembered a verse I had shared with a friend on Facebook the day before-"The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save." Zephaniah 3:17a. I knew-He was not finished with me yet; there is still work for me to do for His kingdom.

The truth of the matter is this-we don't know when our time is up. No one is promised tomorrow or next week or next year. All we have is this minute to make a difference for His Kingdom. So what are you going to do for Him today?

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,

since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Colossians 3:23-24