HE WILL KEEP YOU SAFE
1969. I was new in town, a
hippie from the San Francisco Bay Area, and now I lived in a suburb of Chicago
with my parents. I was a “love child,” “flower child” of the 60’s, which meant tank
tops, long skirts and combat boots among other things. I was 19. I got a summer
job as a lifeguard at the local pool and hung out after work with the other
lifeguards, going to bars in nearby towns to party. It was fun. I didn’t make
any permanent friends—too shy really, and not very good at socializing with new
people. But I was attracted to this older guy—the “bad boy” guy who stood apart
from the crowd.
This guy was different,
intriguing. He liked to play pool. So a group of us went to a bar to play pool
almost every night; or as it turned out, he and his male friends played pool
and I watched, till the early hours of the morning. He paid attention to me and
that was a lonely time in my life, so if someone paid attention to me, I was
all ears, all attention, all “gaga” over him. We never had sex but still there
was this attraction, this connection. Then one night I decided for some reason
not to go out after work.
I got a call from one of
this guy’s friends about 8 o’clock that night, telling me the guy I liked really
wanted me to come meet him down in the parking lot by my work. I was totally
into it and started to get ready to go out. Then I stopped. I had this niggling
feeling that something was wrong.
I didn’t know it at the
time, but it was the Lord giving me a warning. I figuratively felt a cement
wall rise up in me. In my hippie-love attitude I had been totally ready to hop
in the car and take off to town to meet him, but this odd feeling, like a
cement wall encasing me, stopped me. I couldn’t go. It was weird, but I just
knew I couldn’t go.
The next day, I donned my
lifeguard swimsuit and off to work I went. After work, one of my coworkers
pulled me aside where no one else could hear. He looked all around to make sure
no one was near, then whispering, he told me the story: “I just wanted to let
you know that guy showed up last night at the parking lot with a gun! He was
looking for you. He was in a hurry to get out of town and head cross-country. He
said he was planning to take you with him! He was really mad when you didn’t
show up but he didn’t wait long till he pealed outta here.”
You can imagine the
flip-flops my mind did with that! Well, there you are. I was dumb, but still
the Lord took care of me and kept me safe. He kept me from showing up that
night. I don’t know what would have happened had I gone, but it wasn’t going to
be good. The Lord loved me when I was dumb as dirt! Ephesians says:
“Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh [is working] in the children of
disobedience:
“Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and
were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he
loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us [made us
alive] together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)” (Eph. 2: 1-5).
The
thing is, that at the time, I was already a Christian, but I didn’t understand so
many things in the Bible and I really didn’t know how to apply Bible things to
my everyday life. I certainly didn’t know the Lord like I do now. But what I learned by experience is that when
we truly love the Lord, no matter how much Bible we know or don’t know, His
love for us is unconditional.
I
know for sure that Proverbs 29:25 is true: “Whoso putteth his trust in the
Lord shall be safe.”
And though I’ve walked through the
valley of death and gotten myself into trouble many times, “I will fear no
evil: for thou [Lord] art with me [always]” (Ps. 23:4).
The Lord has kept me safe (and
smarter now too!) and He will do it for you. Love Him, trust Him.
Love, Carolyn
Buy my first WINGS book if you haven’t read
it yet. IT WILL BLESS YOU AND ME TOO!
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