THE DELiVERANCE OF THE LORD
It was the mid-1980s. I was a young mother of three all under the age of five years old. There was a local grocery where I did most of my shopping. It was a Friday evening; I had run inside to buy ice cream cones for our church social. I was searching the shelves when suddenly a huge man appeared at the end of the aisle. A strange ominous feeling swept over me, but I was in a hurry to get to church on time so I continued to search. Finally locating the cones, I began to head towards the front of the store so I could check out.
The towering massive man stretched out both of his arms and both of his legs blocking the end of the aisle leering at me menacingly. Clutching the box of cones I turned the opposite way walking as fast as I could to get away from him. I had never seen this man before. I had no idea who he was or why he had decided to come after me. Weaving in and out of the crowded aisles I finally reached the checkout. I felt someone behind me pushing up against my back. I turned to see that it was this same mammoth man grinning down at me.
In the area where we lived there had been a brutal murder and a rape incident of two women. The whole town was in a panic. One woman and her child had been murdered; the other woman raped and left for dead. A man who was checking out in front of me realized what was going on; he turned and spoke to the man telling him to leave me alone. The man behind me was relentless; even in that public place, he would not back down. I finished checking out and literally ran to my car.
In the days that followed this same man found out where I lived and began to stalk me day and night. The situation became so dire that the police became involved. The police chief told my Dad that the man had a ten-page rap sheet and that the only way he could be stopped was with a bullet. Every morning I had to have the police escort me as I drove my little boy to the bus stop. Every day the police would monitor my house. Even with the strong police presence, the man would not stop. In fact, his aggression intensified. One day at noon in broad daylight he came to my house and tried to tear my back door down. Once again I had to call the police. Only when he heard the sirens did he leave.
The situation escalated to the point I had to take the children and move in with my parents for over three months. Finally, I needed to go home. I remember praying, “LORD, please save us. LORD, please protect my children.”
During this time I had a dream. In the dream this same man broke into my house through an upstairs window; when he came in he grabbed me, raped me and then tried to kill me. I awoke from the dream shaken. I cried out to the LORD more fervently. My greatest concern was how to protect my children. I kept trying to figure out how I could carry two and pull one if I had to run to get away from this man. My husband worked long hours and was always gone. I didn’t know what I was going to do. This situation continued for over ten months.
Spring came. There was an apple tree that grew right outside the living room window. Each year tiny apples would appear. The police had instructed me to keep the children inside the house; being outside would put them in a dangerously vulnerable position. It came to me one day to see if the apple tree had little apples; I thought the children would enjoy seeing them. When I looked for the tree it was gone. Perplexed, I began to go from window to window, searching for the little tree. It was not there. “Children, I am going outside to check on something. Do not come outside. Stay inside while Mommy looks for the little tree. I will be right back.”
The children huddled together in front of the window as I made my way out the back door. As I walked around the side of the house I saw the tree. It was uprooted lying on its side on the ground. I looked up to discover that the upstairs window was pulled down about ten inches at the top. Immediately I remembered the dream; I ran inside and locked the door.
I found out later that this giant man had tried to climb up the tree to break into my house. Because of his immense size and weight, the tree had given way and had become uprooted, falling flat to the ground; it was left sprawling across the entire length of the side yard. In the fall the man had been injured; he did not go to a doctor to avoid police detection. Because he was diabetic gangrene set in. He ended up losing his left foot and leg below his knee. Within three months the man was dead.
The day I learned of his death I fell down to my knees and wept. The nightmare was over. I knew that the LORD had saved my life and the lives of my children. The police had said it would take a miracle to stop him and it did. There is no doubt in my mind that the LORD intervened to save me. The giant was dead.
The Bible tells us that we are precious in God’s eyes. The scripture tells us that God will give men for our lives. Our God is a covenant-keeping God. He is mighty to save; not just in the Bible times; but in our times as well. We are the apple of His eye. Our enemies become His enemies. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His love never fails.
Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. Psalm 17:4
And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. I Samuel 17:49
And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Psalm 50:15