Dear Mr. State Trooper

Dear Mr. State Trooper,

I don’t know you and you don’t know me either.  Because we’ve never met, you probably would find what I have to say a little strange.

Oh, I’ve probably seen you before.  Either you or your comrades in arms sit watchfully in your patrol cars at strategic points along the four-lane highway which links my little town to the big city.

Yes, I’ve noticed you pointing a radar gun at vehicles traveling to and fro.  I know you are not only trying to catch speeders but also protecting the rest of us who do manage to drive safely.  I also know you patrol that highway stopping suspicious drivers in an effort to keep drugs from being pipelined to our town and beyond.  Yes, drugs right here in my little town and in the rural areas surrounding us.

I do want you to know that I truly appreciate your service as you protect citizens like me, sometimes putting your life on the line.  I have the utmost respect for you and all policemen.  But there’s something important I want to share with you today.

Yesterday as I was driving to work – yes, sir, I’m certain I was traveling the speed limit  because my car was set on cruise control – I spied the flashing lights of your patrol car stopped on the highway berm and noticed that you had a car pulled over, a speeder I assumed.

As I came upon this scene,  I signaled to move into the left-hand lane – see, I do obey our homeland laws.   I watched as you stepped out of your marked vehicle  and surveyed oncoming traffic.  It seemed as if you looked right at me.  And then you turned and started walking toward that pulled over car in front of yours.

That’s when it happened. God prompted me to do something for you.

Since I don’t know you personally, I have no idea if you believe in God or know Him.  You know who I mean? God our Creator, Maker of heaven and earth.  The same God who knit you together in your mother’s womb.  The God who came to earth in human form as Jesus, the Son, and died to save you and give you eternal life.  The God who sent His Spirit to comfort you and to guide you.

That God, very God, prompted me into action.

An overwhelming thought came into my head as I watched you in my rear view window walk towards that parked car.  I believe the Lord planted this thought in my mind and I chose to obey Him.

“Pray for him.”  That was the thought.  “Pray for him right now.”

I believe the Lord wanted me to pray for you.  So I did.  I prayed for your safety.  I prayed that angels of protection would surround you and no harm would come to you.  I prayed that the person in the stopped vehicle would not be out of control or a danger to you as you approached his car and spoke with him.  I prayed that no wayward or speedy driver would swerve out of the lane of traffic and accidentally hit you.

Mr. State Trooper, I prayed hard for you as I drove on to my destination.  And then something completely thought-provoking also entered my brain.  You see, I’m one of those “what if” kind of people.

I see things and I wonder, “What if?”  I think about possibilities and ponder, “What if?”

So here’s the provocative “what if?” that I’m considering today in my book of Opportunity.

What if I prayed like that all the time?  What if I prayed for each person as I encountered him or her – complete strangers?  What if I prayed for that clerk at the convenience store or the guy beside me at the gas pump?

What if I prayed for the safety of each person driving past me in a hurry to get somewhere?  What if I prayed for that school bus full of children and its driver?

What if I prayed for my mailman as he delivers my mail or my dental hygienist as she cleans my teeth or my chiropractor as he adjusts that achy old hip of mine?

What if all of us believers prayed like that every single day?

Praying for you, Mr. State Trooper, made me realize I need to do some major changing in my life.  First, I need to be more sensitive to the Spirit’s prompting me to prayer on someone’s behalf.  Next,  I must be obedient to pray, not later, but right then at that very moment.  And lastly,  I need to share this experience with others.

You know why I think that, Mr. State Trooper?  Because when I safely arrived at work, an event I take for granted every day, this quote greeted me on my daily calendar:  “If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it.” ~ Margaret Fuller

What if we all “lit our candles” and prayed for one another without ceasing?  Light would overcome the darkness.  The world would be a brighter place and maybe, just maybe, a little safer too.

I prayed that the Lord would keep you safe and protected yesterday,  Mr. State Trooper.  Actually, I continued to pray for you all day because I realized that even if you don’t know Him, God loves and cares about you very, very much.  That’s why He asked me to pray for you.  And in the process, He taught me yet another lesson.

Be safe, Mr. State Trooper.  And God be with you till we meet again.

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