Article November 26, 2001 Issue

You're always safe in God's care

By David Degler

When my friend Ellen was a teenager, a man pulled a gun on her and got into her car. She was very frightened, of course. But she prayed. However, she wasn't praying for God to change him from a bad man into a good man; rather she was trying to see the man as God had created him—in His own likeness. In her prayer, she refused to give in to fear but affirmed that God, Love, was right there in the car with her and with the man trying to terrorize her.

As Ellen prayed, she was able to see that—despite the frightening situation—this man, because he was created in God's image, was in reality spiritual and good. And even though the man threatened to hurt her, Ellen continued praying.

Ellen had learned in Sunday School that God is the only real power in the universe and that God is with each of us at every moment. In this tense situation, she knew that if she could understand this teaching as fact, not just happy words, she could rely upon the immediate power of God to protect her from evil. An important aspect of her praying was to include this man in her prayer, too—to know firmly that the man, like herself, was God's child and that their heavenly Father dearly loved them both equally.

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