A story based on Psalm 27 Part 1
Drew was trapped in a cave, hiding from the ones who were out to kill him. He didn't understand it at all and he was scared. He was just 17 years old, getting ready to graduate high school. He had a girlfriend named Sheila, who was 16 years old, and they took her one night. She had been missing now for 3 months. He couldn't figure it out, why they had taken her. He dreaded each day without her. He called the police on November 27 to report her missing. It was 6pm, when he called and the police might as well had just laughed at him, he thought, because they just dismissed his report. They had told him not to worry about it. The police just thought it was an argument between the two. Three days later, Mr. and Mrs. Wharton reported their daughter missing. It was Thanksgiving break and Sheila was suppose to spend time with her cousin, Freda Wilson, who lived down the road. Drew was suppose to meet the both of them for a double date, with Freda's boyfriend, Max. Drew went to The Coffee Bean on Richmond Drive and they never showed up. He ordered a grande White Chocolate Mocha and waited and hour, then ordered a Caramel Macchiato to go. He called Sheila, then Freda, and no one answered. Three days after Drew called the police, Mrs. Wharton called Mrs. Wilson. Sheila never showed up on that Monday when she was suppose to. Mrs. Wilson was confused because Freda said she was going to her friend Rhonda's house in the next town over. Mrs. Wharton panicked and called the police.
The cave was dark and the thought of Sheila startled him. He had been hiding out for 2 days now and the cave was cold. It was the end of February and the snow on the ground made it difficult to keep warm. He had been attending Atonement Fellowship Baptist Church with his best friend Kyle Rutheford for 2 months now. He wasn't sure what all this God stuff was really all about, but after what was happening, decided to finally go with Kyle one Wednesday night to Youth Group. Kyle was the same age as Drew and they had been best friends since kindergarten. Kyle lost his mom to cancer when he was 11 and his dad started taking Kyle to church two months later after his mom's death. Kyle rebelled for a few years and then gave his life to Christ when he was 14. Drew was never was interested in the least. Drew grew up without parents available to him. He lived with his Aunt Rita Baker, Drew's father's oldest sister. She was a nurse who worked in the local hospital on the midnight shift, so Drew was pretty much on his own at night. He got himself up everyday for school and got himself breakfast and a shower and grabbed his books everyday since he was 15. Drew's parents were both hooked on Meth since Drew was born and the state gave him over to his aunt permanently when he was 2 years old. Drew never really thought much of God until the night he went to church with Kyle, and never gave Him much thought after that night, until tonight.
Drew, frightened and cold, remembered that night at Youth Group in December, just before Christmas. The youth pastor talked about how the Lord was our light and our salvation, and taught on Psalm 27 that night. Of all the scriptures Pastor Ron Keller could talk about, he chose Psalm 27, and that night, Drew was drawn in. Now he was running for his life from enemies he never met and he thought of Psalm 27:1, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?" It kept going and going on in his head and couldn't get it to stop. He didn't quite understand it all and was very frustrated with that verse. He couldn't understand why God wouldn't want him to be afraid, he just might get killed after all! He did relate to Psalm 27 very well, with everything that had gone on in his life, but how could he not be afraid of those who were going to kill him? And how would God step in and save him? He just didn't know the answer. On Monday night, two nights earlier, he had enough. The police had no leads, because all the witnesses to Sheila's disappearance were ending up dead. The case was becoming as cold as that February night. He grabbed Aunt Rita's pistol and took off looking for clues. He was going downtown late Monday night and two masked guys in a black SUV drove up to his red Jeep Cherokee and took two shots at him, while he was getting out of the jeep to grab a bite to eat at the Subway. Needless to say, he jumped back into the vehicle and sped down the road, running every red light until he came to the edge of the mountains. He ditched the vehicle and ran for the caves that weren't far from there. He barricaded himself in a small, dank cave and looked down at his right hip in horror. There was blood. It didn't even hurt until he saw the blood. He realized what had happened. He'd been shot.
He stumbled, landing his butt on a large rock and quickly looked at the damage. It was only a graze. Nothing that was life threatening. He gulped with relief. He wondered if he was being followed. He had sensed danger as he plopped on the rock. Was he alone? Or did he lose those thugs? He thought back to January 14, when he got a disturbing phone call. It was a recording of a children's song, "Little Bunny Foo Foo". The person or persons calling called three times and hung up after the recording. He got the first call at 8pm, the second at 9:30pm and the last call at 11pm. He got a chuckle over it the first time they called. Then it got a little disturbing. He thought to himself while sitting in the cave, "Who was it that called that night, and why that song?" A note came to him in the mail a week before that read, Don't follow the rabbit trail." It was signed in blood, Peter Rabbit, with a picture of a dead rabbit. He gasped when he looked at the picture for the first time, and he gasped at the memory while in that dark cave. Dread came over him as the feeling of danger crept closer. Was it his imagination running amok or did the two masked thugs catch up to him? He looked at his watch and noticed it was almost midnight. He had gone 2 days without sufficient food or water, and hardly any sleep. He thought he would either die at the hands of his enemies or would die of thirst and starvation. He did something for the very first time in his life that night. He prayed. Lord, I'm scared and feel alone. Help me please! A sense of calm came rushing through his body. This was very foreign to him. For that moment, he was at peace.
There will be 14 parts to this story over the next several days. I hope you will continue to follow it. Stay tuned...
