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Cliffhanger
by
Catharine Parks
This real life story starts out with a prophetic dream …Footsteps thudded behind
me as the sound grew louder the closer he got. Running down a dark and deserted
street, heavy breathing alerted me that he was right behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder to see my pursuer an arm’s length from me. I tried to
see his face, but a black ski mask covered it. He neither called to me, nor said
anything. He just kept chasing me! The sweat poured off my face in rivulets. My
heart hammered in my chest. My skin now cold and clammy made my clothes feel
sticky. My limbs pained me horrifically, protesting the sudden onslaught of
imposed exercise. My breath came in short gasps with sobs of terror. I pumped my
arms and legs faster, my limbs already in excruciating pain. I looked behind me
again to make sure I stayed ahead of my pursuer, but his footsteps gained on me
with every step I took. I, Katrina ran for my life.
I frantically searched around me, my legs trembling as terror gripped my
insides, searching for any place of refuge. Seeing none I forged ahead. I
spotted a yellow sign by the side of the road; it depicted a man falling down a
steep cliff indicating – the road ended. I continued running past it, thinking I
could slow down before reaching the edge of the cliff. However, I just kept
running till I reached the end of the road and kept on running right over the
cliff, my arms and legs flinging wildly in the air.
Tumbling through the air, I plunged towards the earth screaming the name of
Jesus as I fell. I dragged out his name in one long wail, hoping that He would
save me. As the ground came up to meet me, my life flashed before my eyes, the
good, the bad, and all the regrets that it all came to this. As I reached the
bottom of the cliff my body suddenly righted itself, as if a giant hand turned
me right side up, and put me on my feet. Looking down at my body, I realized I
made it! Alive and whole, not a scratch on me!
Shaking all over I fell to my knees, as tears of gratitude streamed down my
face, thanking God that He had saved me from death… With a shout my body jerked,
and I woke up, sitting straight up in bed. Sweat covered my face, arms and legs
and made my nightgown cling to my body. Just a dream I told myself! I lay back
down in the bed and pondered the meaning of the dream. Something would be coming
into my life that I should run from. Other experiences taught me to pay
attention to my dreams. But at the time nothing was happening that I could see.
I realized it was warning me to heed the signs, before approaching anything, but
it also told me I would not, that I would go forward into a situation. I
understood scary moments would occur throughout the ordeal, but I would land on
my feet. Since nothing at the time warranted this warning I put it out of my
mind.
A few months later I became involved in a home-based business opportunity on the
Internet. This person hired financial facilitators to handle transactions
between his organization and potential sponsors. I could see myself getting
caught up in my bills, get out of debt, and help out my children and
grandchildren. Raising funds for life support systems in third world countries
seemed a worthwhile goal. We corresponded for a few months, and finally he
emailed me that a sponsor would be sending a cheque made out to me. He
instructed me to cash the cheque at a certain bank, take out my fee for handling
the transaction and send the rest on to him.
They never asked me for money at any time throughout the transaction. So when
the cheque came that day in the mail, I thought, “Wow!” This is a real cheque;
they did just what they said they would do!”
My daughter informed me cash stores have machines to verify the authenticity of
cheques. So I took the unsigned cheque to a cash store instead of the bank they
suggested, thinking this would speed up the process.
I waited for them to verify the legitimacy of the cheque, time dragged on. They
made me wait; telling me it would take time to get all the money together. The
next thing I knew I saw a policeman come into the store and approach me. He
asked me several questions concerning my job and the cheque. He then told me the
cheque number I presented to the cash store had already been used. He arrested
me for uttering a forged document, and spent an uncomfortable night in jail.
While I lay on the cold bench that night in jail, the Lord reminded me about the
dream I had months before. I recognized my situation corresponded with the
middle of the dream. The reason the dream came—to warn me trouble was coming my
way, and its warning signs would not be heeded, thus the fall from the cliff. I
had failed the test!
My day in court came and I was found not guilty, an incident that should never
have happened. If I had remembered the dream when I received the cheque I would
have torn it up.
Now when I face any problems in my life, I have learned to look at every
sign. The smallest details can mean something and is part of the whole. Even
if signs, or dreams do not make sense to me, or I tell myself, “It’s only a
dream”—it is God’s way of getting a message to me, trouble is ahead, heed
the warning signs. The creator sends these signs to guide us in our daily life.
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