Have you ever felt compelled to help someone?
I recently saw an amazing video on Facebook. It has apparently been floating around since March, but I just saw it for the first time. I have pasted the link below if you would like to check it out for yourself. I have been unable to get it out of my mind and I felt compelled to share it here.
A young woman gets on a bus in Philadelphia with her one week old baby. The baby was having some type of breathing issue and the young mother was on the way to a hospital get medical attention. A man followed her onto the bus and began harassing her. He wanted to see the baby and then to touch the baby. The young woman, afraid for her child, said no. The man became agitated.
Enter, Tameka Bates, a pastor. She stood between the mother and the assailant. Over and over again, he attempted to get around her and over and over again, she stood in his way. That’s awesome right? We all love Good Samaritan stories. But, here’s the cool part.
The entire time, she kept telling the man, “The blood of Jesus is against you. I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” While looking at the young mother and saying, “I’ll protect you. I have you covered.”
The video shows others sitting idly by and doing nothing to help, but Tameka Bates never backed down and in fact, followed the young mother off of the bus as she continued to tell her she was protected. The young woman burst into tears.
The man went on to attack a security officer who worked for the bus.
When Tameka was asked if she would have intervened had she known how violent the man was, she didn’t miss a beat. She said absolutely. She said she knew he “wasn’t right,” but felt compelled to help. She said she didn’t fear him because, (Here’s the headline)…. She knew that the greater being within her could defeat whatever was in him.
She felt compelled to help and was not afraid. As Christians, we are supposed to reach out to a hurting world. That often looks like providing food or sending aid to somewhere far away. It sometimes is inviting someone to church.
But, how often do we think about physically protecting another human being and calling on the blood of Jesus as our shield? Jesus said in Luke 10:19, “Look, I have given you authority over all power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.”
While some churches have used this verse to engage in snake handling, (definitely not my thing), Jesus is giving his followers authority over evil. He says in red-letter words, that we are covered.
How many of us walk around with that fearless kind of faith? How many of us are that bold in the face of danger? Tameka was compelled by the Holy Spirit and she acted in faith and Jesus had her covered as well as the young mother. I wonder what that young lady’s faith looks like now, after that intervention.
Tameka is an inspiration to all Christians. I want to aspire to be more like her. I want to be compelled to help and to do so fearlessly. What about you? What do you think?
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂