The Story of Courage the Cowardly Christian

A few months ago I was in a car accident that left me with no car. Then a friend offered to let me drive an old car he had. Recently as I was driving home from work the car started making strange noises I quickly exited the freeway as the car died. I coasted long enough to steer the car off the feeder road and onto a remote side street. I called my friend and told him I was stranded and needed his help. He said, "Man, I'm in no position to come and get you the mechanic is working on my car right now." to make matters worse he said, "I'd call my wife but she was in a wreck this morning and her car is in the shop right now too!" So yeah, I was in a bind. I figured the car had just overheated and I replenished the coolant and waited. Tried to start it again and still nothing, when I called my friend back he said they were working on getting to a stopping point and they would come and pick me up. Good enough, so I waited....and waited...waited. Before long it was starting to get dark, and I was starting to worry a little.

I had reason to worry, the street I turned down consisted of two very old houses on the left and two condemned and seemingly abandoned on the left. The occasional car would pass by, along with people on foot. The good news was the gas station was only a block away, the bad news was when I had gone earlier for coolant, the attendant was encased in bulletproof glass, sliding my change under a slit. Sitting on a stool to his right was an armed police officer. As I was buying the coolant the other store attendant brought a $20 bill to the officer and claimed the guy who had come in recently had given it to him, it was counterfeit. It was not a nice neighborhood.

I sat in the car for two hours waiting on my friend to arrive. As it got dark a figure emerged from the abandon house and knocked on the window. I rolled it down and he said, "Are you ok man?" I said, "yes I'm fine the car won't start but I'm waiting on a friend, he said, "Well I'm a mechanic let me take a look" I wasn't really sure if he was telling the truth but I was sure he wasn't a mechanic. He looked under the hood and jiggled a few wires, I was sure he wasn't a mechanic. Then he said, "Man you've been out her for two hours are you sure you're ok?" That's when I knew he was up to something. He had been watching me the whole time, from the time I turned on the street until the time he decided to come out of the abandon house where he was obviously living. I could see him looking inside the car, possibly for something to grab or steal. Then he said, "I'm going over here then I'm coming right back" even after I insisted that I was ok and help was on the way. I was starting to get a little scared. Still I resisted the temptation to completely freak out. I had a cellphone, there was a police officer less than a block away, what was God telling me. As this guy walked away a police cruiser drove by the car, stopped and shined his light through my window. I rolled down the window and the officer said, "You allright?" "Yep, helps on the way" I said. He drove away. The guy returned but this time he said, "I'm going to help you, man but you've got to promise to take care of me." I said. "I have help on the way, I"m ok but thanks" he left and came back again! This time he said, "Hey I talked to the officer and he told me to get you in some light because they'll tow your car if it's parked right here" I knew he was lying. in the end, the guy helped me push the car to the gas station a block away. I gave him 18 dollars for helping me and he disappeared. I thought all night why God had allowed this to happen and then I understood.

There are many things that could have happened to me on last night. I could have been shot, robbed, even killed. Instead I witnessed a man struggle to do the right thing. The giveaway was him saying, "I'm gone help you man.." he said it like it wasn't something he normally did. I was sure of that.

I woke up this morning thinking of Romans 8:15 that says:

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
-Romans 8:15

I'd love to seem like an undaunted Christian who in the face of danger stood courageously without waver and took on the devil himself without fear. I'd be lying, I WAS SCARED! The thing that I can say is that I recognized that God was with me throughout the ordeal and that helped me to maintain a cool head. I was ready to grab my things and jump on the next thing moving to better surroundings but I resisted the temptation to do so. I gained a valuable treasure and it was simply the reassurance that I am an adopted son of God and if I'm a son, then an heir, and if an heir a joint-heir with Christ. If God would give his Son to suffer FOR me, then who could possibly do me harm? It's often said that "courage is being afraid but going on anyhow" God's love is far more superior, because of His love I GO ON ANYHOW BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-Romans 8:35-39

Created over 2 years ago