going to believe you .”
Connar remembered her mom telling her that if she was ever in this type of situation to go ballistic . Yell , scream — and do it all at the top of your lungs . That ’ s exactly what our daughter did . And in a matter of ten seconds , still screaming , Connar slammed the passenger door shut , jumped into the driver ’ s seat , locked the doors , and started honking the horn like crazy . My daughter says this was nothing less than a miracle . In that moment , she knew exactly what to do to keep the situation from taking a devastating turn . The man was stunned . He had not expected her to do that . She could hear him saying , “ Calm down . Just calm down ,” through the open windows .
And then , with Connar still shrieking and the horn still blowing , the man ran back to his car and took off , driving through a red light on his way out of town . And that ’ s when she called us and 9-1-1 . Connar remembers the police officer who came to the scene saying this was a new way that sexual predators were getting their victims . “ It ’ s a miracle he didn ’ t just knock you out ,” he told her . She also learned the massive dent on his car was from a previous incident in which he had tried the same thing with another girl .
I am beyond grateful that the plans the enemy had to destroy my daughter fell through . That night Cherise and I got on our knees and thanked God for what didn ’ t happen . I know that not every story has a happy ending like ours . Sometimes in a broken world , terrible things happen to good people without any explanation from God . Bad things happen to us all , but I think one of the greatest lessons we can learn is to celebrate all the times in our lives when God protected and delivered us from things that didn ’ t happen .
When was the last time — if ever — you thanked God for what didn ’ t happen ? We ought to stop whatever we ’ re doing and throw a party for the door that God didn ’ t open . For the guy you didn ’ t marry because years later he would have been a deadbeat . For the girlfriend who broke up with you because she would have gone back to her ex-boyfriend . For the job that didn ’ t work out because you held out for the one God wanted you to have . For the business deal that went sour before it would have bankrupted you .
“ When was the last time — if ever — you thanked God for what didn ’ t happen ?”
Often , when God shuts a door , it is for our protection . Am I ever glad the Lord is my doorkeeper and not me . I can ’ t tell you how many doors I would have kicked in , thinking I was supposed to do something that in reality was not part of God ’ s plan . If something doesn ’ t work out after you have prayed about it , guess what ? God just shut a door . Not to punish you or hurt you , but to protect you .
There are times in our lives when God protected and delivered us from things that didn ’ t happen . He shut the door and locked it . He kept us safe . He said that no weapon formed against us shall prosper . It should have happened . It almost happened . But because of God ’ s hand of protection , it didn ’ t happen .
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