DIVINE INTERVENTIONS: We Are Not Alone

In this episode of the DoorWays® Ministry Network Podcast, Ric Shields interviews guest Darren McKinnis about a personal experience. Darren shares a story about a potentially dangerous encounter with three aggressive men after a minor car accident. Darren believes he was saved from the situation by a mysterious man who intervened and then disappeared, leading him to believe it was a divine intervention. 

Ric Shields and Darren McKinnis discuss the implications of this event on Darren's faith and spiritual journey. The episode concludes with a prayer for listeners facing struggles and uncertainties.

Transcript

DIVINE INTERVENTIONS: We Are Not Alone
GUEST: Darren McKinnis
S3, E38 

Ric Shields (00:00):

Thanks for joining me on this episode of the DoorWays® Ministry Network Podcast. In recent weeks, we have focused on divine interventions and have spoken with people who've seen God work supernaturally in their life or in the life of others. And we're going to do that with our guest Darren McKinnis in just a bit. Before Darren joins us, I'd like to take a minute and offer you a free book. When I say free, I mean free. I don't require you to register or sign up for anything. Free is free.

(00:28):

I released this book a couple of years ago. It's called "Generous Measures: One-Minute Lessons with a Lifetime of Value." It's a small little book with just 27 stories, and each story is exactly 200 words. I originally attended it for ministers who may need an illustration to stress a point about generosity, giving, or stewardship; it ends up that most of our readers have used it as a daily devotional.

(00:55):

You can get this book as a PDF download on our website. The address you'll need is simply this: doorways.cc/generous. Once the page opens, just go to the download link and choose where to save it on your computer. And by the way, if you have friends or family members who speak Spanish, there's a link available in Spanish, too. You may pass the link along to them or download the PDF and give it to them.

(01:22):

So why are we giving this away? First, unless you're a televangelist, it's hard to sell a book about generosity. It would be a huge contradiction. Second, the Lord has helped us understand some things about generosity that we think will be a blessing in your life. We feel a responsibility to share the things that we've learned with others. By the way, we've seen over 3,000 books downloaded over the past couple of years, about 2,000 in English and nearly a thousand in Spanish.

(01:50):

We'd be happy for you to have one, too. We've also given away nearly 2,000 paperback editions. If you'd like a paperback, send me an email and we can get one to you free and postage paid for those who live in the US or in its territories. If you like it, please share the link with a friend. That's one of the ways you can inspire generosity, too. Again, our website for the download is: doorways.cc/generous. I hope you enjoy the book, and we'd be happy to get your feedback on it.

(02:20):

Okay, back to our guest, Darren McKinnis. On the way home from work one afternoon, Darren was rear-ended at an intersection. When he got out of his car to see if there was any damage, three, what he calls "spirited young men," got out and accused him of hitting them. What would you do? What did Darren do better yet, what did God do?

(02:42):

You're listening to the DoorWays® Ministry Network podcast.

(02:54):

Let's talk about a divine intervention in your life. There's one in particular that you've written to me about. I don't know the details, so give me some of the details. Where were you? Let's start with this. Where were you when this happened?

Darren McKinnis (03:07):

Sure. Yeah. I was living in Chicago at the time, about two years into being married. I was working as a social worker.

Ric Shields (03:17):

You were in Chicago. You were working as a social worker in Chicago. A lot of amazing things can happen in Chicago, both good and bad, let's, let's face it. At least that's our view from the south that you know. Chicago's an amazing place. What happened? What's going on in your mind?

Darren McKinnis (03:35):

Yeah, so after probably a long day at work I was driving home and thinking, I'm so ready to be at home. Come to a quick stop and I get rear-ended. And it wasn't a bad rear end, but I pulled over, you know, I want to do the decent thing. Pull over, make sure everybody's okay.

(03:57):

So, I get out of the car and out steps, I believe three or four young spirited men that were looking for a fight. And they said, Hey, why did you hit us? And I said, I'm sorry, I believe you ran into the back of me, but it looks like everything's okay. I think we're good to go. And they said, No, you, you owe us money. And I said, Well, one, I don't have any money. And two, like, pretty sure it doesn't work that way when you run into somebody else.

(04:34):

I was probably about 24 years of age and pretty spirited myself. And I thought, Well, if I don't have money and I'm not going to give up my car, I'm probably going to have to fight these guys. And it, it may not go well for me. <Laugh>.

Ric Shields (04:53):

Yeah, it may not, it means one of you and three of them.

Darren McKinnis (04:58):

Yeah. So, I'm sitting there thinking, what do I do? And I am about to kind of roll up my windows a little bit, lock my car and throw my keys onto the “L track” just so they can't take my car. And all of a sudden, this car whips up behind them, and this short stocky gentleman gets out. He was in like a security outfit. And he jumps out and he says, Hey guys, what's going on? And so he takes me aside quickly, and I tell him, and I say, Hey, I'm just trying to get outta here. And, and he says, Okay, I've got this.

(05:43):

And he takes the guys aside and starts talking to him, and I hear them begin to say a whole different story than what actually happened. And so, I jump in the middle of it and I'm like, That's not true. And I started defending it, and the guy looks at me and he says, It's okay. I've got this.

(06:01):

And so, I back off and, and I remember looking in the car. He had a passenger with him, and the passenger didn't move. He just, he just sat there, but he gazed at me and maybe not gazed is not the right word. He basically stared through me. And, and I just remember watching this and I'm, and looking at that guy and, and just remember thinking like, Oh God, like we need some help here.

(06:29):

All of a sudden, the guys jump in their car and take off, and the little security guard says to me, Hey, everything's okay, but I'm going to follow them to see where they go. And I said, okay. And he just pulls off onto the Dan Ryan. And as his car's going forward, his car disappears.

Ric Shields (06:54):

That's crazy.

Darren McKinnis (06:56):

Just vanished. Yeah. It like, I thought I was seeing things.

Ric Shields (07:02):

Or not seeing things.

Darren McKinnis (07:03):

Right. <Laugh>, and I was just standing there. I'm like, Oh my gosh. Wow. That was, that was Jesus. An angel. Both. Everything. <laugh>

Ric Shields (07:16):

Okay. Now let me ask you, weren't you, you weren't on anything at the time. You know, you weren't drinking, you weren't smoking something, you know, you'd had a good night's sleep or something?

Darren McKinnis (07:26):

I was not on anything. I had, like I said, had just come back from work, so maybe, maybe I was on like a good high of, Ooh, it was, it was a decent day at work. <laugh>

Ric Shields (07:40):

Yeah.

Darren McKinnis (07:41):

It could have been a bad day, too. And here's the even more ironic thing. As soon as both of those cars go away, a state patrolman pulled up and  he gets out and he says, Hey, son, what's going on? And I tell him what happened, and he just looks at me and shakes his head and he is like, Well, it looks like you're okay. You could probably leave.

Ric Shields (08:06):

Yeah, I can see where he would be a little on the confused side. Let me ask you, this security guy, any insignias on his other than looks like a kind of a uniform. Did he have a badge or anything on the car that said security?

Darren McKinnis (08:24):

He did not. It was <laugh>. It was like a, it probably wasn't this, but I just pictured as like a GMC Rambler or something. Not, not a very exciting car.

Ric Shields (08:36):

Yeah. He wasn't going to run them down, was he?

Darren McKinnis (08:39):

No, he was not. And, and

Ric Shields (08:41):

Did he have long hair and a beard?

Darren McKinnis (08:43):

He did not have. I'm telling you, he had shorter hair, no beard, clean cut face, short, stocky. Now, the, I wish I could tell more about the other guy sitting in the seat be because it was, honestly, despite all the interactions that were going on, he was the one who truly captured my attention, but I wasn't sure what to do with him. He brought almost like a peace to it. I just looked at him and I just remember in a sense feeling like it's okay. And, but I don't remember much about him except that he basically stared through me <laugh>

Ric Shields (09:29):

That's crazy. So what was, what was your spiritual state at the time? I mean, were you a Jesus follower at the time?

Darren McKinnis (09:36):

I was a Jesus-esque follower. <laugh>

Ric Shields (09:39):

Jesus-esque.

Darren McKinnis (09:40):

Yeah. I would say that I believed in Jesus, believed in God, but I wasn't really actively going to church, wasn't pursuing God. I was doing a little bit more of pursuing myself while still knowing that early on in my life, I'd been called to be a servant by God. So, I wouldn't say that it was my best spiritual time for sure.

Ric Shields (10:10):

Did that change? Did this have any effect on that?

Darren McKinnis (10:13):

I would say that it slowly did. I wouldn't say that it was automatic or immediate.

Ric Shields (10:19):

It wasn't like you went to church that night or the next day or something, but it was something that was there with you.

Darren McKinnis (10:25):

Yes. Yeah, it's been a, I would say it's been like a slow fuse type of thing where I go back to that story and I remember every time that I think I'm going to do this on my own or I'm going to have to do it on my own, I get reminded of that story. And it shoots me back to how fearful I felt. But yet how, well I think what it was is I felt, I felt alone and I thought I was going to have to do it all by myself, and I didn't have to because somebody came out of the wings of the Dan Ryan. And I wish I knew what that guy said to them, because they literally ran and jumped it back into that car as fast as they could and took off as fast as they could.

Ric Shields (11:17):

I don't have a story quite like that, but when it comes to the things disappearing, there was a time they took a group of young people to Mexico City, and we lost some luggage. And in that luggage were some things that the people were going to serve with had asked us to bring. And, you know, there were some nice things. And we got there, and those suitcases were nowhere to be found when we were taking luggage off the carousel. And we knew exactly what was in which suitcase. And I pulled the students aside and I said, We need to pray that God had help us to find these things, because I knew if we didn't have them, they're going to go through customs. It was going to be an issue. Nothing was illegal that was in these things.

Darren McKinnis (12:03):

Sure.

Ric Shields (12:03):

And so, we stood together we prayed, opened our eyes, and here was a tall Mexican guy. He had some type of a uniform on also. And he looked at me and said, Señor are these your bags? And I looked, and they were, but I didn't know whether to admit it or not then, because I'm going, Well, yep, they are, but <laugh>, then what would I do if I said, No, they're not, that was not going to be good. So, I just said, Yeah, they are, assuming he’d looked through them and wanted to ask us questions. Kind of dropped my head. And he said, Well take them. Okay. So, I took the bags off of his cart, turned to say thank you, and he was gone. I never saw him again. And it wasn't like the customs area was so full of people by that time, it had thinned out quite a lot. I mean, really, literally took the things off his two-wheeler, just put them next to us, turned to say thank you, and the guy had disappeared. So, I understand. I have a similar story of what happens when God sends someone to help and then we don't see them again. But let's go back to your story. What do you take from this?

Darren McKinnis (13:25):

Well, I think there's a few things that I take. The first is we're not alone. We're never alone. Even in our darkest moments, we're not really alone. It feels like that. And I do believe that when I look at it now, it probably did increase my prayer life a little bit more, the more that I told people about it. It was a great story to go back and tell people at work what had happened.

Ric Shields (13:57):

And how did they respond to it. <Laugh> Chicago is not a city that I see, and I, and again I, stereotypical, I'm sure I don't see it filled with just this thriving community of people who believe, Oh, yeah, God is at work. He, he's right now, he's right here doing things with us. So, you're working, you're not at a Christian organization, I suppose.

Darren McKinnis (14:22):

Yeah. You know, in name it was, it was Lutheran Social Services, but that didn't mean that you were a believer to work there.

Ric Shields (14:31):

You didn't have to be Lutheran to work there.

Darren McKinnis (14:33):

But probably not. Yeah. You know, I think the interesting thing

Ric Shields (14:37):

Well, you weren't Lutheran.

Darren McKinnis (14:38):

No, you're right. Was no, I guess <laugh>. I guess so, yeah. The one thing that my boss said is, Don't you ever feel like you could take somebody on again.

Ric Shields (14:52):

Smart boss. Good idea.

Darren McKinnis (14:54):

Yeah. She scolded me for thinking that I could be like that. And, you know, but I believe that when it happened, it was something that I needed at the time for sure. I needed to know that God was real in my life, despite the fact that I was really pushing him away. And I think a lot of times in those incidents, like even in your trip when you're trying to go serve God, we, and I think even those students, they needed a reminder as to why they were really there.

Ric Shields (15:36):

That's right. That's good.

Darren McKinnis (15:38):

And I…

Ric Shields (15:38):

Well, and the truth is we need those stories then, and we need them even years later now to help us remember the many stepping stones along the way that God has provided for us, the many memorial markers that we have that we can look back and say, I remember that unique special time that God divinely intervened and it still continues to touch our hearts and give us faith to believe for the days ahead.

Darren McKinnis (16:06):

Yes.

Ric Shields (16:06):

Ever you had any other experiences like that?

Darren McKinnis (16:09):

Well, I had one in the desert where I felt like God told me to take a very specific item when I was going to go play in the desert. And well, I needed that item to actually survive because I had gotten, I ended up getting stuck out in the middle of the desert <laugh>.

Ric Shields (16:24):

What was this item?

Darren McKinnis (16:25):

It was a water bottle that filtered water, and this was way before filtered water bottles. This is like brand new on the market <laugh>.

Ric Shields (16:35):

And you're out in the desert. I'm assuming that you've done a little hiking before.

Darren McKinnis (16:40):

Mm-Hmm.

Ric Shields (16:40):

<Affirmative>, You probably know better than to do what you did <laugh>, but you did it anyway.

Darren McKinnis (16:47):

Of course, <laugh>. Yeah. I had done the exact same thing maybe a year or two before, so I didn't think I needed to take the guidebook. And, you know, that's, that's like going into a war zone without taking your Bible.

Ric Shields (17:03):

How long were you lost or how long were you wandering?

Darren McKinnis (17:08):

Luckily it was, we only had to stay the night. One night. God did provide me with a couple things that he suggested while I was packing. I did take a map at least, and, and I took that. I took that magic water bottle. And I also didn't eat all of my lunch that day, so I had a couple provisions.

Ric Shields (17:33):

You said “we” earlier. Was it more than just you?

Darren McKinnis (17:36):

Yeah. So, I went with a really good friend of mine that you was my rock climbing teacher from Oral Roberts <laugh>.

Ric Shields (17:45):

I think God must love you. Darren <laugh>, I think. I think so.

(17:50):

The Apostle Peter was sleeping in prison between two guards and was bound with two chains when an angel struck him on the side and told him to get up. As he did, the chains fell from Peter's wrists. He put on his clothes and sandals, wrapped himself in a cloak and followed the angel out of the prison.

(18:12):

Acts chapter 12:10 tells us they passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

(18:27):

Was Darren, visited by an angel? I wasn't there, but it certainly sounds like a divine intervention to me. The Apostle Paul wrote this in Ephesians 6:12, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. What are the struggles and issues confronting you? It can be hard sometimes to even put a face on them. You just know you're discouraged, experiencing anxiety and wondering what to do next. I believe the Lord sees us in our darkest moments and will not leave us alone. He will stand with us and fight the battle on our behalf.

(19:13):

Let me pray for you. Lord Jesus, be with my friend. Show yourself to be strong on their behalf. Fight the battle we cannot see and help us to stand and see the deliverance you bring. Amen.