I’m no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God.
The song that played in my head all day after I was robbed on my morning run. Here’s how it went. My squad mate and I went running at 6 am on Sunday morning. Our run was almost over, and I just wanted to get it over with when I heard Jesus whisper in my ear, “finish strong.” Then What a Beautiful Name by Hillsong came into my earphones (Jesus used this song last July to confirm that the Race was truly where He was leading me). I was ready to really finish my run well! We turned down a main road when a taxi started honking at us then drove past us very slowly. The taxi turned down the same road we were planning to take so I said to Brit, “Let’s just go down and not take that road. I don’t want to chance it.” And she agreed 100%.
On the Race, and really anywhere, we must be cautious. Especially as women. It’s a tough reality but it’s the truth.
We ran up the road one more block and turned to make our last leg home. As we were running, I felt a hand grab my hand and grip it hard. It was the hand that was holding my cellphone. I started screaming, “No! No! No!” I stepped back, and the man was just sitting there on his moto. After I stopped screaming, Brit and I took off through a patch of grass and dirt to get back towards some apartments that were nearby. I could see her speeding up. “Brit is he coming back?!” I yelled in a panic, trying to run as fast as I could. “Yes! He’s right there!” I looked back and sure enough he had turned around and followed us through the grass. We just started screaming, “Help! Help!” I have never screamed so loud or with so much fear as I did in those moments. I didn’t know what was going to happen next. There was no one else on the street… I was trying to think about our next moves to get away from him, but I couldn’t think. My mind, heart, everything was just racing. Racing to get away, racing to find help, racing to get anywhere besides where I was. He came up beside me again. This time he stopped his moto and got off the bike. He was stepping towards us when I just gave the phone willingly. “Here, just take it!” I said. I didn’t want him to get physical, so I just gave him what he wanted. He got on his moto and drove away. I broke down almost immediately. Tears, hysterical tears. That’s when I began to feel a pain in my leg. I looked down and there was a burn from the man’s moto. He was so close to me that he burned me twice with the exhaust pipe on his bike.
Next thing I hear was a woman from her window, “Come inside,” she was referring to the gate that was around her apartment. She came down and met us, trying to converse but she spoke almost no English. She called the police, but they hung up on her. She translated through Google that police weren’t going to do anything. We thanked her for trying to help then ran the block back to our apartment.
When I got home I started thinking about what had just happened. Y’all the Lord knew that was going to happen. He was right there with me and Brit the entire time. And it wasn’t the run He was talking about when He told me to finish strong. It was the Race. I could be fearful and never go running again or not really go out. But fear will not overwhelm me. Satan will not win. After all of that happened yesterday, I got ready for church, went to church then spent part of my day in a Haitian village. Now, did I have to ask the Lord about a thousand times to help my mind not be distracted? Yes. Was I emotionally drained and in result took a two-hour nap? Yes, yes I did. But that’s okay. The Lord is our strength when we are weak. We can always lean on Him. And I will finish this Race strong! With confidence that the Lord is protecting me, all the time and everywhere.
“There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear.” 1 John 4:18
with love and no phone,
sav
PS — it’s going to be pretty hard to get in touch with me for the next three weeks, so I guess I’ll talk to y’all in America !!!
