Samantha C Sinclair (with AI )
The darkness closed in around fifteen year old Emma Flynn as she was dragged into the sedan. Fear gripped her throat, as the scream she withheld choked her breath. Emma heard the voices of a male and female. Emma pleaded for her freedom.
Please, just let me go. What do you want with me?
Her captors didn’t answer. They continued talking. Before they drove far, they stopped and threw Emma in the trunk.
Her aunt, Rachel, a 911 dispatcher, received the frantic call from a bystander. Rachel’s heart sank as she dispatched the police, her mind racing with worst-case scenarios. (Psalm 94:3).
The next call that came in shook Rachel to her core.When she answered the 911 line, on the other end was her sister Jammie.
As Rachel searched for Emma, she wrestled with her faith. “Why, O Lord, dost thou stand afar off? Why dost thou hide thyself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1). She felt like the biblical Rachel, weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted (Jeremiah 31:15).
Days turned into months as Rachel waited for news about Emma’s whereabouts. She poured her heart out to God, “My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to thy word” (Psalm 119:28).
“God,” she prayed, “It breaks my heart to have concerns my sister is involved, or this is at least something to do with her. God, my sister has made such bad choices that could now be severely impacting her daughter. I wish she weeped and prayed for my niece as I do, but it seems she hardly cares. It is breaking my mother’s heart, as she and I have raised Emma from age eight. As much as we were allowed. Praise You dear LORD for leading me to them. Please move like this again precious FATHER. Dear God, please protect sweet Emma, and please give my baby sister another chance. Emma has suffered great losses in her life. Her dad dying from an overdose the night Emma was born, and her mother putting drugs before her. Oh precious LORD, I cry out to YOU in Jesus precious Holy name. Amen.”
Mark, Rachel’s boyfriend and the town’s Police Chief, stood by her side, offering support and reassurance. Although they had only been dating a couple months, they had attended the same high school, and Rachel had been a 911 Dispatcher for fifteen years. Their relationship was blooming nicely. Mark was a rock solid prayer companion by her side. He chased down every lead, and reminded Rachel not to lose faith at every dead end. (Jeremiah 29:11 KJV)
Meanwhile, Emma was driven several hours from her small town. Blind folded, she was removed from the trunk, as though she were only a package being delivered. She could feel the cool air on her skin, and then she felt a rough mattress beneath her aching body. Her temples pounded pain to her racing heart.
“You can remove your eye covering once you hear the door close.”
Emma did just that. Accross the room was a young lady, about twenty five. The girl shared how she had been kidnapped off the beach in Florida. She had gone to the beach ahead of her family, and she longed and prayed for them now.
Learning she had been the female in the car, and as time dragged on, with thoughtful prayer, Emma devised a plan. At first, Emma wondered, “Where are You God?” Every couple days, Emma and her roommate, Jenny, were allowed to take showers, and they were allowed to leave their prison to use the bathroom. The bathroom had a window. The problem was, it was on the second floor.
After several times of using a plastic knife she had saved, she had been able to loosen the object meant to hold the window closed.
The warm sunshine streaming through the dirty bathroom window gave Emma courage. She flushed the toilet, and turned on the shower. Then she prayed Jenny would do the same in the second bathroom. She raised the window, it squeaked slightly. Emma flenched, but climbed out on the roof. She praised God for the latter left by the roof repair men while they were at lunch. Emma ran and ran. With every breath, and every pounding step, she begged God for safety. She never saw Jenny again.
The fifteen year old found herself in a city, lost and alone. It was New York. There was Ground Zero. God was with her, and she wasn’t alone.
God led Emma straight to a church. Emma felt an inexplicable sense of peace. As she sat in the pew, she began to pray, “God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us” (Psalm 67:1).
When Emma was found there by the pastor, he called the police and an ambulance for the bruised and malnourished girl. She called her Aunt Rachael from the hospital. Rachel, Mark, and Emma’s Granny were on the next flight out.
Rachel’s relief was palpable. She thanked God for His mercies, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not” (Lamentations 3:22). As Emma settled into her new life with her grandmother, Aunt Rachael and Mark prayed and encouraged them. Emma struggled to cope with the trauma. She found solace in her faith, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saveth the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
Rachel allowed God to remind her of a truth. Her faith had been tested, but not broken. She understood that trusting God didn’t mean controlling the outcome but surrendering to His sovereignty. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Fifteen years later on Emma’s wedding day, they held each other tight. Aunt and niece bond strengthened by the trial. They knew that God’s presence had sustained them, “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he that will sustain you” (Isaiah 46:4). In the midst of darkness, they found hope and comfort in their faith, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4).
Did you enjoy this story? Did it resonate with you in some way, or someone you know? Feel free to leave a comment, or email me at Samantha.christianfiction@Gmail.com. Please share, and let me know what Christian fiction inspirational story you would like to read next.
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