A DIVINE STRENGTH – The Ted Bell Story

Disclaimer: This article contains information that may be disturbing for some readers. Reader discretion is advised. 

Author’s Note: This is the beginning of a series to honor law enforcement officers and other first responders who have been either injured in the line of duty or killed in the line of duty. If you’d like to submit your story, please email [email protected].

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided. The goal of these is to honor each first responder and their service. 

During the early fall of 2017, in a small southwest Georgia county, Deputy Ted Bell was dispatched to reports of a man inside a home refusing to leave. While en route to the call, Deputy Bell told me in an interview that one of his off-duty partners called him and said, “Ted, you need to get some backup over there. Those folks are armed to the teeth, and they know how to use firearms.” Once Bell arrived on the scene, he approached the door and encountered the man refusing to leave the home, and began giving verbal commands. 

This call would prove to be a pivotal moment in Deputy Bell’s career. After a verbal exchange with the suspect, Bell was facing the barrel of a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson M&P handgun. The suspect began firing rounds at Bell, one of which struck him below his rib cage, in the upper portion of his abdomen on the right side. Bell was not wearing body armor. 

Deputy Bell began returning gunfire at the suspect, to the tune of fourteen rounds, while making his way back to his patrol car some distance from the porch where the gunfight occurred. Out of ammo, wounded, and bleeding profusely, Bell reached for another weapon from his patrol vehicle, and the suspect exited the home. During this time, Deputy Bell believed the suspect was dying; instead, he exited the house with his arms around the neck of a woman presumed to be the suspect’s wife. 

After several minutes of bleeding and exchanging gunfire, Bell was in the sitting prone position, armed with an AR-15 and an approaching suspect who had just tried to kill him in the line of duty. Once again, Bell began giving the suspect verbal commands, “Get on your knees, now! Lay on your stomach! Put your arms out to the side!” Deputy Bell intended to get the suspect in a prone position with his arms outstretched so he could put him in handcuffs. But when he went to get his handcuffs from his duty belt, Bell said, “I couldn’t move. I had gotten very weak from the loss of blood and was lying prone on my stomach.” The suspect’s father was nearby during all of the gunfire, and Bell asked the man to help him. “Sir, I need your help. Take these handcuffs and put them on your son.” And the man did as the deputy asked. To this point in the call, there was no backup on the scene. It would be a total of fifteen minutes before the first backup officer would arrive to aid Deputy Bell. 

When I asked Bell what his one lesson from this call would be for others, he said, “Adam, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t get up, and I knew I needed to. I couldn’t just lie there anymore. I whispered a prayer and asked God to help me and give me strength, and He did. I was able to get up one more time. I am not a religious man, but I believe in God, and after that day, I have no doubt where I am going when my time is up.” Bell continued, “I want every officer to know the importance of wearing their body armor on duty. If you haven’t been issued one, buy your own, but whatever you have to do, wear them.” 

Deputy Bell’s story, while remarkably heroic, has garnered little attention. It is the stories of men and women like Bell that remind every person, whether a private citizen or a law enforcement officer, of the power of relying on our training, our skills, our gear, and, most importantly, our prayer life with God. It doesn’t matter if you find yourself in a gunfight needing one more breath to get back up again or if you find yourself battling the demons from past trauma, prayer is the one thing we can do, and God will hear us if we will call on Him. 

Maybe you aren’t a religious person, as Bell stated, but let this be a reminder: your religious status does not dictate the availability of God’s power to sustain you through life’s battles. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” Think of this verse like this: as hunger drives us to eat and get nutrition, we should go to prayer for those moments when we are weak. Seeking God’s strength is for any moment in our lives, whether bullets are flying by us or if we are sitting with our thoughts, silently suffering from a painful memory. And His strength is given to us, not because we are deserving of it, not even because we need it, but because of His grace, and when we ask and seek Him for it. 

Throughout our lives, there may be moments when we find it difficult to overcome our own weaknesses. And surely, there will be occasions when we must either rely on the strength of God or battle through with mere human grit and tenacity. If you find yourself needing the strength of God to get back up one more time today, or if you need His strength to get through your shift today, call on Him. He is an ever-faithful Father who cares for us, and He is faithful to strengthen us in our weakness. 

Action Step: When you find yourself needing strength, make a habit of exercising the muscle of faith. Call on God and ask Him to show you His strength in your moments of weakness. 

Pray On This: What are three practical ways you can begin practicing relying on God’s strength today? 

Meditate On This: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

Photo Credits: Ted Bell