What If....

Hi Family,

I was browsing around the internet while I had some downtime at work. Seeing what’s on the news and on Yahoo, when I came across what I considered as a funny title to a news article. A man had apparently tried to rob a store but his “plan” was foiled he ended up locked inside the store alone. That’s clearly nothing funny, but what the title said was that the man took his gun and he shot at the door. When shooting at the door didn‘t work, he turned to….. prayer.  I read the entire article and it stated that there was a video, so of course, (as I’m giggling) I’m thinking “did he really just stop and pray???” So of course I did what any other curious person would do. I stopped to watch all 7 minutes of the video. I had a range of thoughts and comments going through my mind as I began watching. “Wow! This dude really just waltzed his skinny little tail in there and is about to rob the place!!??”, “Wow, that’s a really brave lady. Just up and said no like that with a gun visibly in the robbers hands.”, “They are so lucky they all got out, especially with that lady with the baby stroller! AND she really locked the door from the outside!!”

At that point I saw so many things…. I saw the panic from the skinny young man, I saw frustration, and I saw that although he may not have relationship with the Lord, He knew of Him. Because he called out to Him. I refuse to dismiss or judge whether or not the boy truly meant to call on the Lord or if it is just habit that when he got in trouble he’d say “God please help me”.  He continued in so many attempts to escape, really, shooting the door, mainly the locks on the door, ramming his body against the door, kicking the door, everything he could think of. Don’t we all try everything we can to get ourselves out of a situation we got ourselves into? Before, during and After we call out “God Please Help Me”? He saw a passerby through the window and the lady that had locked him in. The same lady he tried to rob and had presented a gun to. He did drop to his knees, but although he wasn’t technically praying, he was begging for mercy. He pleaded what he could, told her that he was sorry and had nothing on him. Just trying to show her that he was no longer a threat. But don’t we all please for mercy when we get ourselves in bad situations?

As he panicked, I thought about this young man’s mother. What type of woman she may be. Was she a woman of faith? Was she at work? Was she a single mom, just trying to raise her kids as best she could? Was she a stay at home mom trying to raise the kids by good moral character and her husband a hard worker? Fact of the matter is, this young man here… this young man tempted by all that he is tempted of, could be my son… this young man could be the son of anyone that is reading this. You see, no matter what we do in life, how great we try to raise our kids, sometimes they have to find their own way. And sometimes their own way is not the way we want them going. We can be the best of families, doing all the great things by our children, and somehow they manage to end up in situations that we consider detrimental to their health, safety, well being and spiritual life. And sometimes, all we can do is just Pray for them.

I wondered if this young man’s mother was a praying woman. Maybe she was home praying for her son, knowing that he was being tempted by so much, but unable to stop him. The boy was out but under special conditions from another aggravated assault that he was already in. So, any of us who have any experience with the legal system knows that when you get in trouble, when you are out with special conditions for ALREADY getting yourself in trouble, it’s a lot worse. I tend to wonder, God in his infinite wisdom, knows our every move. God knows our end before anything else. The story that God has for us, is played from an Expected Victory. 

I can’t help but to wonder, in his mom’s prayer, in this young man’s sudden “God Please Help Me”, maybe God showed up in the form of Police Officers. Not to punish him for his crimes, but to take him away from the things that are tempting him in the world. What if the next step for this young man is NOT to suffer in prison, and not to “rehabilitate” the way these states like to call prison time, but What If, God’s plan for this young man is to separate him from the temptation so that he can be strengthened in the Word of God? What If God has already planned a wonderful protection in the prison system for this young man, so that he can bring him to a TRUE repentance for his disobedience? What If God has planned that repentance in order to create in this young man, a clean heart?

Fact of the matter is, I have no idea. I pray that it is God’s ultimate plan for this young man. As most of you know, I believe in Fairy Tales, and this would be one fairy tale that I would love. What if God......

What if you stopped thinking about all the negative What if's...... What if the "what if's" that you could think of in any so called bad situation, were about a possible way that God would save someone? Even you?

I love you all. Be Blessed.

Ana