by Gerri Storm, as told to Elva Martin
What would you do if you
were trapped in your home--
about to be raped, maybe even murdered?
I was alone, I thought. Only God knew I wasn't.
My grown son was away at his military reserve camp. There is only my son and me. I am a widow.
Hunger gnawed at my stomach as I walked over and looked in the refrigerator for something to eat. Momentarily, I was relieved my son was away. I would have wanted to cook for him, but a sandwich was fine for me.
I sat at the kitchen table and skimmed through the mail while I ate the sandwich. Then I went to the back part of the house, flipping on all the lights as I went, to prepare for a relaxing shower.
In the bathroom I turned the exhaust fan on to remove the steam that would come from my shower and also turned on the radio. I turned the radio up pretty loud so I could hear it over the shower and the fan.
In the shower shampooing my hair and listening to the lovely music on the radio, I felt life returning to my weary body. I stayed in the shower until all the hot water ran out.
As I stepped from the shower and toweled off, something caught my eye out in the hall. It was my son's bedroom door. I was almost sure the door had been in a different position when I had entered the bathroom.
Without hesitation or thought, I stepped into the hall nude, my hair still dripping, the exhaust fan and radio still going strong behind me. I reached through the partially opened bedroom door and flipped on the light.
To my utter horror a man stood at the foot of my son's bed. He had his head thrown back squinting at the sudden light.
I screamed and jumped backward. It was the same reaction I would have had to a coiled rattlesnake. Then, although I felt terror constricting my throat, words formed on my lips and came tumbling out of my mouth with a power of their own. "I curse you in the name of Jesus! I curse you in the name of Jesus!" In that instant as I turned to run and the words kept repeating themselves out of my mouth, my mind told me no one would have heard my scream because of the radio and that I must get out of the house.
I ran toward the front door. I ran in the dark. The intruder had turned off all the lights. As I ran, with the intruder close behind me, the same words kept coming out of my mouth, " I curse you in the name of Jesus! I curse you in the name of Jesus!"
The words seemed to help me, to move me, to ward off fear that kept trying to paralyze me.
Just as I got to the front door panic washed over me like hot water. I had put the chain on the door! In an instant I saw I could never get it off in time. I was cornered. Trapped!
I whirled around to face the intruder. He stood scarcely two feet from me. His face was partially covered with a nylon scarf. A knife flashed in his upraised hand.
Terrible fear, thoughts of death, humiliation, of standing helpless before this man ran through my mind, but my mouth kept going even then.
"I curse you in the name of Jesus! I curse you in the name of Jesus!"
Then the man spoke in a low, menacing voice, "I'll cut you in pieces. Go and lie down!"
In that moment I knew if I screamed he would stab me. I also heard the voice of God in my inner spirit telling me to obey the man, to obey the authority of that knife for the moment.
I said, "In Jesus name I will lie down. I will lie down in Jesus name" I repeated the words as I moved around him and headed back toward my bedroom.
As I entered the hallway, I began praying out loud in tongues. The tongues came out of me fast and furious. At the same time, in my mind, I was saying to God, "Lord, I know this is not of you. It is not Your will and I don't know how, but I know You are going to save me. I stand on You, Father."
As I entered my bedroom, the tongues still firing out of my mouth sharp and staccato as pistol shots, I noticed the intruder was not behind me.
The Spirit of God told me he had left the house, but it took me a few minutes to believe it. Finally I was able to call a friend who in turn called the police.
The police found the intruder's tracks all around my house and under the bathroom window. He had obviously waited until I was under the noise of the shower and radio to break in. Then he had stayed in my son's room waiting for me to emerge. The police were very surprised I escaped unharmed.
All I could tell them was: "Jesus did it. Jesus did it."
Now I know if we are trapped in a corner - without even clothes on our back - we do have a weapon to defend ourselves if we are in Christ. That weapon is the name of Jesus. It works. It is mighty. It is sufficient!
Gerry Storm of Myrtle Beach in SC, USA, has given us permission to publish her testimony on this website.