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Let's find out what God says
about how fast He will protect you
God will save you in a nano
second
"Blessed is he who
has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble.
The Lord will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him
in the land and not surrender him to the desires of his
foes. Psalm 41:1-2
It was New Year's Eve, what happened to
me that evening was very personal and very memorable to me
for more than one reason. I was a sophomore in high school
when I was invited to a good friend of mine's party that was
over at his home. Our parents were all serving in the United States
Air Force at Ellsworth A.F.B, and even thou we all lived in base
housing, my friends house were the party was located was just
outside of the Air Force base. So you did not have to go through a
check point to get to his house.
Just like any other teenager, I was very
excited to be invited. So I wanted to fit in with everybody so I had
some wine as well as some lemonade. That night I was introduced
to the strongest of all bottled alcohol called Everclear,
that was mixed into the lemonade, I was told later that it was
like180-200 proof which would be !00% alcohol.
I discovered this day, that alcohol
seemed to affect me more quickly than most others, not in a bad way
if I drank in moderation. If I wasn’t too careful I would literally
lose my cookies which to me is the worse thing that can happen to
me. And it was probably a prayer being answered from my
mom.
I have never been drunk before, so here I
was in the bathroom when I felt like I was going to lose my cookies,
so as I was on bended knees before the hopefully clean toilet. I
realized that every time I tried to throw up, nothing would come up.
I would just go through the physical motions but nothing would
happen.
So the only thing that would happen is
that my stomach would hurt from the convulsions. I would find out
later that this was called the dry heaves. The only fearful thought
that was racing through my mind at this moment was the story I heard
just a few days earlier about someone who had the dry heaves
and that his stomach literally ripped loose and came up through his
throat literally choking him to death.
So here I was thinking that I was
literally going to die, so each time that my stomach started to
convulsed, It would take everything for me not to scream
because of the unbearable pain I was going through, I
kept pushing down with one of my hands on my stomach, and the
other hand was trembling but still holding on to the porcelain
toilet to balance myself in this undignified way, praying that it
would not rip loose and come up through my throat and choke me to
death.
It made me wonder if this was just as
painful as child birth, and how could it not be.
Right then I made a promise to God, that if He would
spare my life and from all this unbearable suffering that I will
never get this drunk again.
I
thanked God when I felt the pain go
away,
But God wanted me to get up
close and personal with the after effects of getting drunk, which
for me was the worst thing that can happen to me and that was still
feeling like I was going to lose my cookies.
So like any dignified partier,
I decided to go outside and find an appropriate place to
lose my cookies.
I decided to go just a few
houses away and do my business and I was still thanking God for
taking away the unbearable pain, my stomach was still feeling quite
sore from the earlier convulsions.
I was in front of some hedge bushes, no
more than about fifty feet from plain view from the street, I
decided not to go behind the hedge bushes on someone else's
property, and make the home owner think that I was trespassing on
their property, especially this late at night.
I was feeling sick as a dog, when just
like that, three young service men that were in the Air Force
drove up and parked their Volkswagen bug and got out and started to
walk towards me.
The one man, who was closest to me of the
three, showed me that he had a knife in his hand, then without any
emotion or remorse he told me that they were going to gut me
like a fish.
I did not know this man from Adam; I
silently prayed that God protect me.
It's funny how our priority's change,
just a few moments earlier I felt like it would be a blessing if
somebody would just shoot me and take away my pain and suffering.
Now I wanted to live and with the alcohol talking, Trying to be
brave, I started to laugh and I said something like, oh yeah you
think so!
I just stood there, feeling to drunk to
want to run to fight another day, I knew in two seconds that there
was a very good chance that I would be left for dead on a strangers
front lawn in the freezing cold of winter.
And with less than a second before they
would be close enough to start stabbing me to death.
A car load of the guys from the party were driving
towards me, literally hanging out of the open car windows yelling
and waving "There's Cartwright over there!" the three
men literally stopped in their tracks and ran back towards
their car, never to be seen
again.
Was my life saved by accident or by
divine intervention?
I believe one of the reasons that God has
never left me or forsaken me one time in my life is because I never
blame God and ask why things happen to me, I always connect the dots
together to praise God for always being with me all
the time. In other words I always try and glorify God in everything
that I say and do.
Such as...
The temperature was literally
freezing outside,
It would have been perfectly normal for
the boys that happened to drive by, to have their windows closed
hoping that the heater would quickly warm up so that they would quit
shivering from the intense cold.
I believe that God inspired them to open
their windows, to hang out of the windows and to have a good old
time hooping and hollering, so when they drove by they would see me,
as they were yelling and waving, "There's Cartwight over
there!" They stopped and asked what was I doing out
here?
For a moment just think if there windows
were closed as they were driving, the side windows would have been
fogged up and they would never have seen me fifty feet from the
street.
Their car driving by would not have
prevented these 3 men from trying to stab me; they would simply have
waited until they drove by.
What helped put the fear of God in them
were the boys hanging out of both sides of the windows
screaming and yelling that startled them to run back to their
vehicle and take off.
Now let’s consider the most important dot
to connect,
The dot of "perfect timing,"
What if the car that they were driving in
needed just five more seconds to warm up in this below freezing
weather.
I was about to be killed in less than a
second,
How about the dot of "The fear
of God" who the Holy Spirit used to convict the guys
who were hanging outside the car window to start screaming and
yelling at the precise place that I was at, and the precise time
that I was confronting the very face of evil...
murder.
Everyone of our lives have been changed
and shaped through adversity,
Did I learn anything from going to that
party that night?
I learned to drink in moderation and to
never get drunk again,
I learned that God is a God that will
protect me in a nano-second,
I learned that God will never leave me or forsake me
one time,
"I will never
leave you or forsake you." Hebrews 13:5
So you be the judge if my life was saved
by accident or by divine intervention?
Then multiply it by hundreds of divine
interventions that I have documented throughout my life. Not just
life and death situations, which would have been just a couple
dozen times or so in my life. The other hundreds of times were other
adversity that God was there for me. And God wants to do the
same for you too.
"Oh, how great is
your goodness to those who publicly declare that you will rescue
them. For you have stored up great blessings for those who trust and
reverence you." Psalms 31:19
You want God to always bless
you?
Always glorify God in everything that you
say and do.
Here's one way...
Anytime that God has blessed you or
someone else tells you that God has done something wonderful in
their lives.
How we respond at that very
moment will define the purity of our heart and determine to God
if our motives are a blessing or a curse to Him in glorifying
Him..
Will we choose to be a curse to God by
taking away His glory by never sharing what wonderful things
that God has done for us, or to tell others that we don't
believe that it was possible what he/she said that God did for
them?
Or will we choose to be continually
blessed by God, to glorify Him by always being obedient to His will
and share what He has always done for us, and that He wants to do
the same for them.
God shapes our destiny by the
choices that we make,
I praise God that He gives us the
power to make that choice everyday!
"Everything comes from God alone, Everything lives by his
power, and everything is for his glory." Romans 11:36
LB
