Called to Live Extraordinarily Ordinarily

Her home was less than six minutes away. We got out of the car, and the policeman used his baton to knock on the door. It didn’t take very long for her to come to the door. She was shocked to see the policeman in front of me and became hysterical. “What did she do, what did she do?” she screamed. The police calmly told her that I had had a bad accident and that my car had gone over the bridge. “She? I don’t see anything wrong with her! She still has her glasses on! I don’t see anything wrong with her clothes except her stockings are torn up!” The policeman did his best to calm her. Then he told her that my keys were stuck in the car and that I had nowhere to go until the keys were retrieved later. She invited me in, and I said good night to the policeman after thanking him. She immediately filled the tub for me to soak in because there was a strong, foul odor of the swamp on me, and my hair was standing upright. I began to pray and command it to go. I put on her nightie and went into the bedroom. Livia was on the phone. She had called Bishop Turner. Then she called Elder Langley. They were both anointed prophets and began relating to me what the Holy Spirit was saying to them. I remember Elder Langley said that the Lord said, “I came and blanketed you with myself. The enemy wanted to take you out, but he couldn’t touch you! I covered you! From this day forward, I am thrusting you into full-time ministry. You will travel to the nations to teach my Word. Know that I am with you and no harm shall come to you. There will be no lack in your life. Every need will be supplied. There is not a torn ligament nor broken bone because I am your keeper.” She then called Priscilla. She then realized that the prophetic word on Saturday morning was for me, and what we thought we had escaped just happened. “Joycie, it had to be you, because I don’t know if I could survive that!” It was a long night. I finally fell asleep. But I woke with the smell of the swamp odor and that ominous presence. Livia and I prayed and commanded it to leave. It left! I was encouraged by the elders of the church to go to the hospital and have a physical examination. After examining me, the doctor declared, “There are no torn ligaments nor broken bones.” He said it just as Elder Langley had said it the previous night. He also gave me three days of leave from work. GEICO called to let me know that the Rodeo was in their compound and I could retrieve my belongings from the car, including my keys. My friend Helen took me to GEICO’s compound, and I saw the car for the first time since the accident. The gentleman on the property said that I had to remove the key myself because he wasn’t going to go near the car after the task of retrieving it from the gully with a crane. I approached the car with some anxiety. The windows were gone, the back of the car was torn off, the windshield was shattered, the frame was bent inward in a V shape, and the tires were half off the wheel rims. We walked closer to look into the car, and we were both frightened at what we saw. Helen grabbed my hand, eyes wide-open, and all she could say was “Joyce! Joyce!” We were shocked. All the seats of the car were covered with thousands of dagger-like or needle-like pieces of glass stuck in the entire seats. There was no space left untouched. I was trembling! The Lord saved me from death in a car that went over the bridge. But how did I escape the thousands, if not millions, of glass daggers that covered the seats? Not one was in my hair, my clothes, or my body! How? Someone shielded me, yet my seat was covered! I don’t know how to explain it. We serve a God whose works and mind we can’t fathom. His ways are indeed higher than my brain can conceive. He is worthy to be worshiped and obeyed. The Scripture in Luke 17:7-10 NIV comes to mind: “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servants when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won't he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; We have only done our duty.’” I owe this God, everything! I am an unworthy servant! And as Roman 12:1 NKJV states: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” The least I can do because of His mercy shown me is to lay my life down for Him in full surrender. It is the reasonable thing to do. So, I will endeavor to give Him my complete obedience as my highest form of worship, not just singing Alleluia, but obeying His Word, His directions, His instructions, not from duty, but from the place of love that was first shown to me. He, Himself, came to shield me. I understand it even more upon seeing the car seats.