911Do you leave your cell phone turned on all night so you are accessible to people twenty-four hours a day? I do not. Due to the nature of my work with survivors of sex trafficking, I’ve learned I need to turn my ringer off at night if I wish to sleep.

The girls don’t intentionally call me late at night or in the wee hours of the morning; however, when I first meet them, they have their days and nights mixed up. They just pick up the phone and call or text when they have something to say. Most of the time it isn’t because of a crisis…. most of the time.

Last night, long after I’d gone to bed, I received an urgent text message. How do you know a text message is urgent? When it says,

It’s an emergency!”

I read the message as soon as I woke up, before my eyes were even fully opened

-before a shower…

-before coffee.

Needless to say, I didn’t need the shower or coffee to wake me up.

So how do you handle those situations? What do you do? Especially if you can’t reach the individual who sent the distressed cry for help?

*My mind immediately jumped to Hebrews 4:13a,

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.”

I knew that even if I didn’t know where my sweet girl was or what was going on in her world that necessitated the 911 text message, God did. He could see her and He knew the entire situation from start to finish. It was then I knew what to do.

I responded to her text message and then I went to my knees and cried out to the only One who could do anything about it. After I prayed, I felt the peace that surpasses all understanding  settle over me [Philippians 4:7].

I still don’t know anything about the situation that prompted the text message I received, but I do know the One who can step in is in the midst of the situation and has everything under control. If He wants me to be more involved, He’ll make it happen. Until then, I am trusting Him and interceding for my girl.

How do you handle stressful situations?

 

*Footnote: Scripture will not come to mind in crisis situations if you don’t plant it there over time. Dive deep into the Word of God and meditate on it. Then when trouble or crisis come knocking at your door, and they will come knocking, you’ll have something to pull from to carry you through.