Hidden

The green van drove slowly, inching past my house.

Two little girls were happily splashing in the wading pool in the front yard.  

Alone.  

Unsupervised. 

What did the passengers in the green van see?  I won't know this side of heaven.  I can speculate though.

Many years ago when my oldest was an infant, I prayed against my children being snatched or taken from our care.  

I was at Walmart in the nearest big city with my baby.  She was an unusually beautiful child.  Big blue eyes, curly hair and delicate, fine features.  She got compliments wherever we went.  This particular day, a stranger came up to us while I was shopping and commented on my baby's beauty.  To the point of making me a bit nervous.  She just wouldn't stop or go away.  I leaned over my baby and wrapped my arms around her little one year old frame, politely thanked the lady and moved away.  It shook me a bit.  It was at that point that I began to pray against my children being kidnapped.  

I battled fear anyway, but that encounter really put me on guard.

Fast forward to a few Saturday's ago.  A van full of men with evil intentions parked on my gravel road about 1/2 mile from my house and flagged down a neighbor girl.  As she slowed her car, four men joined the one on the road who was flagging her down.  She became suspicious and fled without stopping.

My father-in-law saw the whole thing from the top of the hill behind our house.  He was mowing road ditches.  He saw the car speed off.  He saw the men climb back into their van and slowly, slowly, creep down the road.  He said that they were going so slow that he wondered if they were having car trouble.  He saw them disappear behind the tree line that shields our home from the north and west winds.  He waited to see when they came out on the other side of our farm and into the open again.  He said that it took a very long time.

I was inside the house taking a nap.  I rarely sleep in the afternoon, but this day I was very tired.  I curled up with my toddler man and we conked out.  My girls aren't supposed to go outside when I'm resting.  Nor are they supposed to be in the pool without an adult around.  But they did and they were that day.  Right out in front of our house.  Visible from the road.  

"There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague

come nigh thy dwelling.

For He shall give His angels charge over

thee to keep thee in all thy ways."

Psalm 91:10-11

Long ago, God gave me this promise when He reassured me that He would protect my children from harm.  

I can't be positive of the timeline of that day.  Maybe they were inside still.  Maybe they were indeed outside.  I don't know, but I do know that how ever God chose to protect them, He did.  He kept His promise.

Were the bad guys debating about whether to come up our lane and try to snatch my girls?  

Did they see an angel, appearing as a man, standing by my girls? 

Was there an invisible presence that made them feel nervous about coming in our lane? 

Or did they just see a bean field?

I've prayed that our house would be invisible to evil people seeking to harm us.  God has blinded evil before.  It's not a stretch to think that He could make our farm look like a field.

I'll never know this side of heaven.

These men, or men affiliated with them, have been spotted all around our county. We have even heard reports in surrounding counties. This is unheard of in our little farming community.  Everyone is on high alert.  

Evil is getting braver.  Evil is crawling out of its hole and spreading darkness and fear wherever it goes.

I hate this.  I hate that we will probably never go back to being a carefree, safe little community.  Men are cautioned against stopping to help people alongside the road.  A man a county over was almost killed by these creeps because he stopped to help with what appeared to be a breakdown.  Men came up out of the ditch where they had hidden.  They began to surround the man. If another neighbor hadn't come along at just the right time to scare the men off, the kindly man might be dead right now.  

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High

shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,

I will say of the Lord,

He is my refuge and my fortress:

my God; in Him will I trust.

He shall cover thee with His feathers,

and under His wings shalt thou trust:

His truth shall be thy shield and buckler."

Psalm 91:1-2, 4

Do you know God?  Do you know His tender loving care?  Are you hidden in Him?  These verses speak of safety.  They speak of a close and abiding relationship with the Father.

If you can't hear the beat of God's heart, I urge you to pursue Him until you can.  I can't describe the urgency I feel for those who have not trusted Jesus as Savior or are kind of...winging it in their walk with Christ. I feel like a great darkness is lurking and waiting to take over.  It feels imminent and is building in power and ferocity.  I know many others who feel this way.  It's even felt and acknowledged in the secular arena.  It's like we are on the edge of our seats, holding our breath, waiting for...something.  Something not good.

Last Sunday I gave my testimony about my battle with fear. You can listen to it here. One can be certain that when one shares hope and the antidote to fear, one will then be tested.

Today as I read about the man almost being attacked as he tried to help, I'm not going to lie, it shook me.  Fear tried to take over, but now I know from experience what to do.

When fear threatens to take over, run to Jesus.  I took a little walk around our farm this afternoon and poured out my fears to Him.  I prayed protection over our farmyard and buildings.  It's up to me to trust now. Trust is becoming easier and easier as I draw close to Him. I've seen His faithfulness firsthand. 

I urge you to hide yourself in God so that the storm may pass you by.  We may still have hard times, but I'd rather go through hardship with my hand in my Savior's instead of trying to make it through on my own.  I urge you to diligently seek Him.  Cry out to Him.  He WILL answer.  He loves you. He will accept you, He will forgive you. All you need to do is ask. 

Fall in love with Jesus.  Before it is too late. Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow.  I beg you, pursue Jesus as if your life depended on it.  Because it does.