KathyLesure

“God of the Angel Armies”

It was nearly 0600 on Friday morning, December 13th and I was on my way home after working a 12Hr shift protecting property and preserving lives overnight. I was alone on a dark back road. I was physically and emotionally spent with a singular thought: one more 12Hr shift and I would finally get two days off on a weekend to spend with my kids.

Out of nowhere, a car raced up behind me. Just as suddenly, the car drove parallel with mine in the opposing lane of traffic on a two way street! He was SO close, in fact, that I thought he was going to hit me or run me off of the road. If fear and intimidation was his only goal, then he could have driven off because his mission had already been accomplished. Although I was too afraid to turn my head and look at him directly, I could see from my peripheral that he was doing all he could to get my attention and force me to do so. I was nervous, but not panicked at that point because I hoped he’d simply go around me and about his business.

When we got to the approaching stop sign, I thought I’d simply “tap and go” since we were still on the road alone. I also maintained the hope that he would tire of terrorizing a lone woman on a dark road before dawn. However, he decided to use the stop sign as his opportunity to whip around and abruptly stop his car at an angle in front of me. I; in turn, stopped abruptly to avoid hitting him. The parking lights flashed on his vehicle, the driver’s door opened and a white male jumped out with what appeared to be either a shotgun or a rifle. My heart began thundering in my chest as he began to “wave (the gun) and walk” towards me!

I knew he could see my fear because the powerful surges of anxiety and adrenaline in my body were palpable and both shone across my horror-stricken face! Seconds felt like minutes. A million thoughts ran through my mind as my entire life flashed before my eyes; namely:

• I don’t want to die like this; by way of violence, shot to death;
• I don’t want to bleed out alone on a back road and not be found until daybreak;
• I don’t want this to be a cold case and the perpetrator to never be found;

Thoughts rushed through my mind like a film reel on the fritz. However, my foremost thoughts were of the people that I care for the most:

• I’m just trying to get home! I want to see my kids! I want to see my (oldest) son for Christmas!
• What about my parents? My only living grandparent? My only daughter? My disabled son? Who’s going to take care of them?

As nervous and afraid as I was, I had the presence of mind to PRAY in the moment as I thought of them: “Lord, please don’t let me die”! Too many people were counting on me to make it back home to them.

Instantly, as the assailant kept advancing towards me waving the weapon, the Holy Spirit said “put your car in reverse and back up“. I obeyed and punched it, turning my wheel towards what I immediately recalled should have been a nearby side street, until I “crashed” into what I thought could have been a stop sign.

In the seconds after my car crashed, he (the assailant) stopped walking. Then, I saw something on his face. He seemed shocked or even stunned! His REaction certainly did not match his actions up to that point as I was most vulnerable after the crash than at any other point that morning. If his aim was to shoot me, then I was a sitting duck due to the few moments it took my brain to process the trauma of wrecking out.

Whatever his emotion and or intentions, he was stricken still. He simply stood in the road staring at something for the few seconds that it took me to respond to the subtle command to “drive”. As I peeled off in the opposite direction, I dared sneak a quick glance in my rear view mirror. I could see the silhouette of the man walking back toward his car. Again, I punched it until I got back to a safe place because I could not be certain that he wasn’t going to follow me.

GOD kept me clear headed until I arrived among one of my tribes away from home. Then, I fell apart. Why? Why when I’d spent the entire night helping people? All I could remember repeating over and over was but I didn’t do anything! I wasn’t doing anything to him! Then, I was just trying to get home to my kids! Later, I wrecked my car! How bad is it? Where are my keys? and what did I hit?

My Assistant Manager did her best to calm me down. She assured me over and over again that I hadn’t done anything to deserve what happened to me. She hugged me and told me that she loved me. Then, she offered to go with me to assess the damage to my car and take me back to the incident site. Most importantly, she snapped me back to my senses when she prayed and thanked the Lord because it could’ve been the other way!

It was in those moments that those anxieties began to dissipate. When I took a moment to reflect on what GOD had just done for me rather than what the enemy tried to do, the floodgates opened again without the hysterics that oftentimes accompanies a traumatic event. In place of uneasiness, I was overcome by the peace of God as we surveyed the damage. Instead of disquiet, I was saturated in tranquility as I recounted the details to my Mother and to my daughter afterwards. As my focus continued to shift from what could’ve happened to what God blocked from happening, my vision became clear.

GOD stayed the hand of the enemy! GOD told the death angel “no. Not yet”! GOD showed up for me in the darkness of that lone back road at the head of His Angel Armies! What he (the assailant) saw was my God and the armies of Angels that He’s appointed to watch over me!

My two year old truck will be fixed. In time, the sleepless nights and or the night time’s accompanying nightmares will cease. I won’t always “startle” so easily or be as hyper aware of everybody and everything as I have been since the event.

But while I wait for the inevitable healing hand of God, I write these words as a testament to everyone everywhere about what God did for me in 2024’s darkest hour! One more time, He snatched me from the jaws of death! He spared me for a purpose and; with every breath I breathe, I will continue to preach His Word in song and prose! Glory to His Name!

“The God who governs Angel Armies has set encampments around me. Whom shall I fear?” – Donald Lawrence