I love you, Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.
Psalm 18:1-2 NLT
I was sitting here tonight, thinking of my beloved father-in-law who went to be with the Lord in February of 2012. I can't believe it's been seven years. I miss him. As I reminisced, I was reminded of the miraculous protection of God on one of the many visits I made to San Antonio to see Lee.
It was always good to see him. We would talk and talk, and then go out for lunch. In the latter years of his life, Lee always wanted to eat Chinese food. Although he was in a nursing home, he wanted to go OUT to eat… Others tried to convince him that we could just get take-out and bring it back to eat with him at the nursing home.
But you see, when it came to going to the restaurant of choice, Lee and I had been cohorts since the beginning of our relationship, and this particular time, he looked me right in the eye and said, “I want to go to Panda.” I looked him right back in the eye and said, “I’ll pick you up at 11.” And so the next morning, by the grace of God, I got my little father-in-law into the car and we took in all the beautiful scenery - crepe myrtles and lovely oaks - on the way to the restaurant. Once there, I watched him eat Chinese food to his heart’s content. It was a precious time. He was tired when we got him back to his room, but he trusted me to get him back into his bed and settled, and he was one happy camper.
About an hour later, I was on the road heading back home… Now, you know those white signs on the side of the road with numbers on them? In Texas, they’re considered to be more of a suggestion, so we try it and if we don’t like it, we do it faster. And we were all doing it faster… I was about 150 miles outside of San Antonio, and had been traveling with the same 6 or 8 vehicles for the last 50 miles or so. One was a large pickup, hauling an RV trailer, and he and I seemed to do cat-and-mouse the whole time at the back of the pack, when all of a sudden, all the tire warning lights came on in my car! My left rear tire showed no pressure at all and my dashboard was lit up like a bookie’s scoreboard!
I was right at an exit when it happened, so I was able to get off the road immediately (that’s SO God…). I got down to the intersection and pulled into the gas station, and then all the warning lights reset themselves. All the tires were fine – exactly at the pressure they were supposed to be. Go figure… the gauges all reset by themselves. Nothing wrong. I was tempted to be a little frustrated, but I thought, “No, whatever that was about, Father, thank You. I’m sure You have a reason for it.”
I headed back onto the freeway…only to discover that in the time it took for me to get off the road, the RV that I had been cat-and-mousing with had come off the hitch of the pickup and rolled completely across the highway. Had I not pulled off at the exit because of the flashing warning signs, I would have either been smashed by the RV or I would have hit it…going at a high rate of speed. I had to pull over again, but this time it was because I was crying tears of gratitude for God’s protection over my life. Had it not been for His grace and mercy, I would have been killed or severely maimed.
Can I get a witness to the loving protection of God, our Father? I had to testify…
Prayer:
Father,
I love you, Lord; You are my strength. You, Lord, are my Rock, my Fortress, and my Savior; in whom I find protection. You are my Shield, the Power that saves me, and my place of safety. On behalf of my children and grandchildren, and the rest of my family, I thank You, Father, for sparing my life. You never cease to amaze me. Help us to walk worthy of the life You give us every day. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen
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