In a flash, two men with guns were by my side. One gun was at my right temple, the other was on my heart, and a third man was walking toward my sister, who was waiting in the car for me; I expected death to overtake us both.
We were being robbed, and unfortunately, at 20 years old, this was not the first time. The man with the gun to my head wanted the bank bag I had just dropped into the overnight dropbox. When he realized that the bank bag had really already been dropped in the bank depository and I was not hiding it, the three of us all looked over to the car where my sister and the third man were. I could see he had her purse, and they were tussling back and forth. Without even thinking, I moved toward the car. The other two grabbed me while telling me they would both shoot if I made another move. Then, there was a loud pop, and the two men ran. The guy jumped out of the car and started to run; at that instant, my sister put the car in drive and hit him. He was not hurt; he ran off, limping into the darkness.
I ran to the car in fear for my sister. To my great relief, she was good. During their struggle, the robber grabbed her head, smacking it into the gear shift. Now, she was in pain; her face was full of blood, her nose was clearly broken. Ironically, she was more upset that the robber had taken the purse I gave her for Christmas. This became a life-long joke between us.
What if we had been shot and killed? In an instant, our lives would have been over, and where would I have spent eternity? It certainly would not have been with Jesus.
John 14:6 “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
What we call life can all be over in a flash. God is the only one who knows how many days we have.
Psalm 139:16, NLT: “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”
Obviously, that night was not my time to die; my purpose in life had not been yet fulfilled. Before He created us in our mother’s wombs, it was decided that we were created on purpose for a purpose.
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Did I know this at the time? No, I had not grown up in church, and to be honest, I had never even opened a bible to read it. Now, did that stop me from saying a silent prayer to Him during the robbery and thank HIM once it was over. Not at all. I know that God heard my prayer that night. I wish I could tell you that on the night, I had allowed God in my life. I guess it was not His time. He knew the time and the place I would hear His voice for the first time, and there would be no denying His heart for me.
Have you had a moment like this, where, in a flash, could have been your last breath? Do you know where you will be spending eternity? Life is temporary and eternity is forever.
Where will you be spending eternity?
Heavenly Father, First and foremost we thank you and praise you. We come to you as your daughters and sons, we pray you will remind us of your love for us and remind us to love others as you love.
Remind us of the grace and mercy you bestow on us so that we may also grant this to others.
Help us to remember we are here to serve others as when we do, we are really serving you.
Thank you for the gift of life, and to remind us of the preciousness of it all.
You know our hearts and our sins and still want us, not for what we can do or what we look like. You want us for us.
I personally thank you for each lady or man that is reading this, you know all their needs. If they have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, I pray for their eyes to be opened to see what Jesus has done for all of us and to see YOU.
Let us be your vessel to reach them.
I ask all of this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Missy Burks
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#missyburksblogs
