“Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” I cried out loud over and over again. There was no way this could be happening to me but it was. I thought I was going to die. I found myself going from a nice evening stroll around the block, to then running like a maniac screaming my head off, while being chased by two stray dogs. Not just any dogs, these were mean dogs, black furry beasts of the night, growling and barking behind me, with bloodthirsty fangs ready to devour me at any point. Okay, maybe I’m embellishing a little bit but these were no Chihuahuas and they were not looking for a friendly game of catch the frisbee either.  I shuddered to think about what they were going to do to me. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to pass by an apartment under construction under dim lighting but too late to go back now. My adrenaline kicked in, my heart started racing and I transformed myself into the fastest runner on the planet and if I was being timed, I would’ve probably had the world record beat with no problem. And to think just moments ago, I was planning my future. I was going to accomplish big things, from my acting career, to my scripts, to the women I was going to date. There was no thought of God but it didn’t matter, I was in control of my destiny and I was achieving my happiness. Funny how all of that quickly changes when your life is on the line. What once was so important to me, suddenly became trivial and all I cared about was just wanting to live through another day. God was no longer a distant thought but now at the forefront of my mind. The only words I could muster from my lips was “Jesus” and just when I felt I couldn’t handle it anymore, the dogs retreated, they turned around and went back. Next thing I know, I ended up flopping myself onto a grassy median in a Walmart plaza, my heart pounding like it was going to explode. It took me probably a good half hour before I could get back up again and walk home. All I kept thinking in the back of my mind was how did I outrun a couple of dogs and how did I end up at Walmart? All I knew was God had answered my prayer that night and I really didn’t deserve it. In fact even though I was a Christian, I started to live my life apart from God and compromise my values. I was independent now of my parents, living on my own in the world and instead of holding onto the Christian values I was taught, I instead opted to live for my own selfish purposes, not for His. I forgot everything that He had done for me and I wanted nothing to do with Him. And to think that He delivered me that night was so inconceivable. Why? Why did He bother? If I was God, I would’ve just let “slip the dogs of war” and have them rip me to pieces, leaving me dead for the vultures to feast on in a Walmart parking lot. Then all who were driving to Walmart that evening could see this is what happens when you betray me!  So don’t mess with me, Walmart shoppers, I’m Tom Ryan Almighty!!  But thankfully God doesn’t react to us like we would when we are wronged or betrayed by others.  No, God doesn’t give up on us, doesn’t repay us evil for evil. In fact the Bible says “For God so loved the world”.  That means not just those in the world that agreed with Him, not just those who followed Him and loved Him back, no He loved the world. And that includes those who did not love Him back, those who did not obey His teachings, those like Judas who betrayed Him with a kiss, those who shouted”Crucify! Crucify!”, even you and me who should’ve died on that tree. “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us”.  Wow, what a Savior,  that He would love us despite our sinfulness and give up His life for us to deliver us from hell,  so that we can receive eternal life and salvation by His grace alone. As I walk this life with Him now, I often look back on that night and I realize God did much more than just rescue me from becoming a Scooby snack. He taught me a valuable lesson of His unconditional love and that there is nothing I can do to earn or lose His love.  He loves me because that is who He is and because of that love, it compels me to love others the same way, whether they deserve it or not.  Each night God laces up His sneakers and invites me to join Him for another evening stroll.   I find there’s nothing better to end the day than a moonlight walk under the stars with the one who made the stars.  I am forever grateful and just like the Psalmist David, proclaimed, my heart cries out with awe and wonder, “Oh God, ‘what is man that You are mindful of him?’ “.

Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Psalm 103:10
He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

Psalm 8:4
What is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?