An Altercation

'If you don’t get out of my parking space right now- you’ll regret it!’

‘This guys gotta be joking.’ I think to myself as I’m walking away from my car. 

‘Did you not hear me? I PROMISE YOU, if you don’t move your vehicle, it won’t be here when you come back.’

I’m clearly dumbfounded as I turn to the parking attendant who directed me to this empty space… ‘Do you hear this guy threatening me?’ ‘Did he really just say that to me?’ 

The woman who was honking her horn behind me pulled up angrily and started yelling at the man who’s now out of his car threatening me and my vehicle. 

She looks at me with sincerity and says, ‘He can’t just threaten you like that! You have to report him- he can’t do this to you!’ 

I look at her with trepidation, ‘I don’t know how to do that. Where do I go?’

With looks of concern from those observing what’s happening, I jump back into the safety of my car.

Shaky hands didn’t stop me from turning the ignition and getting out of this situation as quickly as possible. 

I just couldn’t get this guys face out of my mind or how he reversed into that space at high speeds in his silver VW GTI. 

This is the altercation I had in the parking lot of a mall in South Africa. 

This is NOT a common experience for me in this beautiful country which is why it shook me to the core all the more. 

It was just so… unexpected. Shocking. Threatening. 

I eventually found the security office and made a formal report of the incident. 

Thank you to the two security guards who walked me back to my car and inspected it. 

No damage was done BUT

Fear had crept into my heart. 

‘What if he retaliated, even though I gave him what he wanted?’

‘What if he’s there when I go back out to the parking lot?’

‘What if I see him again? Maybe next time won’t be just threats.’

Too many ‘What if’s…’ plagued my mind. 

Suspicion. Paranoia. High Alert. 

The capstones of trauma. 

I hope I never run into this guy again. 

I’m leaving the bank at the mall where this altercation had happened the day before and I look up to see my perpetrator standing JUST before the door I need to walk through in order to leave. 

I stop in my tracks.

What do I do?

He’s talking to someone on the phone, so if I’m careful, I could just sneak around him.

My heart’s beating but my spirit takes pause. 

Speak to him. 

Don’t hide in fear.

One step closer.

‘Hello. I think I took your parking space yesterday. Listen, I’m really sorry about that.’ 

Surprise covers HIS face this time as he hangs up from his phone call. 

‘No, it should be me apologising to you. I’m so sorry about how I spoke to you yesterday. This is what was going on with me. I had R250,000 in cash in the back of my car and if anything happened to it, I’d be responsible to pay it back! I’d been waiting for that spot in order to deposit all the cash and my stress levels were through the roof!' 

    'I’m so sorry for how I treated you and spoke to you yesterday. Would you forgive me?’

Looking him straight in the eyes, 'I forgive you’ flowed from my lips as we shook hands and parted ways in peace. 

All fear gone in an instant. 

‘Did THAT really just happen?’ I asked the Lord as I walked out of the bank. 

This divine, holy moment of heaven touching earth… in the doorway of a bank?

Understanding. Forgiveness. Reconciliation. 

Between different genders, different racial groups, different backgrounds.

This is what I’m living for.

Understanding. Forgiveness. Reconciliation. 

This is the Kingdom of God LIVED OUT in this diverse, rainbow nation that is South Africa. 

Be the one to take the first step. 

‘As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present outcome.'

Gen 50:20a (AMP)