Thank You

It was like a scene out of the newest action movie. The brave cop and hero of our film switched on his blue flashing lights and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. Chasing the speeding SUV down the crowded road, he swerved around the other drivers while requesting reinforcements. It was a dangerous game of cat and mouse as both the law-breaker and the cop waited until the other would make a mistake resulting in either the capture or escape of our villain. Finally in a flurry of broken car parts, the criminal lost control, slamming into another vehicle into a ditch and sending himself off the road and into a nearby parking lot.

This scene did not unfold on a screen in a packed theater, but rather just a few yards in front of me yesterday afternoon. After spending the day with family and friends, I was driving Grace and Bob home in my car when we witnessed the wreck. Our jaws dropped as I pulled to a stop on the busy road and we watched wide-eyed as the cop jumped out of his car, pulled his gun on the criminal, then tackled him to the ground. I would have got out to check on the person in the other car, but if they were severely hurt I would have been hysterical and only got in the way of the others who had already rushed to their aid. So when we had a chance, we left the scene and continued home another way.

Only Bob did the driving instead of me. I was so overcome with anger toward the idiot driver that I couldn't think straight. How could someone have such little respect for human life that he would endanger everyone sharing the road with him? Did he even care about the person he had just slammed into? If I had been the cop, I wouldn't have let the man surrender, I would have emptied my gun on him at my first chance. (Now that I know how to shoot one, Mwahahaha) As these thoughts and questions swirled in my mind, I grew steadily more angry and I tried my best to keep from cursing.

It wasn't until later that night when another thought consumed me. What if we had been just a few cars further ahead? What if we were the ones he hit? Would we have survived the wreck? If Grace and Bob had been hurt, I would have crossed the street and wrestled the gun from the cop so I could shoot the man myself. I know it sounds awful and very un-Mandy-like, but I really think I could have done it. When people I care about are hurt, I have the potential to get violent, and this would have been no exception.

As if whole ordeal was nerve-racking enough, thinking of all the what-if's and worst-case scenarios nearly cripples me. But I was skimming through of my Bible tonight when the book flopped open to Psalm 121. This is a Psalm of Ascents, from a collection of songs the Jews would sing on their way to Jerusalem as they crossed treacherous terrain. Verses 7 and 8 say "The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever." How comforting are those words!

I firmly believe God protected us yesterday. It could have easily been us in the other car, but God had His hand on us. He continues to amaze me with the ways He so obviously works in my life and my weak words of gratitude simply aren't enough. I want my life to be a "Thank You" to Him. I want to be pleasing to the God who loves me by living in absolute faith. (See Hebrews 11:5-6) He deserves nothing less.