I listened as my son described what could have been a horrible car accident. Knowing that he is not given to exaggeration, I knew the description was a mild account of what actually had transpired. For the rest of the afternoon, my mind recounted the details realizing what could have occurred. It was then that I gently heard the questions:
“Do you realize how many times I spare you & those you love?”
   “Do you know that I have protected you every day?”
Every day. In ways we know not, our God is there with us, protecting us. I knew that, but somehow days, like yesterday, surface the awareness so that it eclipses all other thoughts. It is then that my soul is filled with a deeper understanding, a greater appreciation of all that God does for me & mine each day. Yes, even when I am totally unaware of it.
Scripture says this in Psalm 91:11 (NLT), “For He will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.” God’s commands are unique, in that, they are always obeyed. His angels do His bidding, no questions asked. And they are protecting us each day, wherever we go, whatever we do.
This morning I read Psalm 91 with eyes wide open, with a new found appreciation. I recalled the times in my life that I distinctly KNEW that God had protected:
- when I walked into our first home in the middle of a robbery.
- when I was hit broadside with both of my small children in the rear seat as a driver ran a stop sign.
- when far along into her first pregnancy, my daughter’s car was hit in the rear while stopped. The other driver being at full speed.
- when doctors explained what to be prepared for & it does not happen.
Those are just the ones that came quickly to my mind. And then I wondered, how many times was I totally unaware of what God had protected & spared me from? Is it no wonder that the Psalmist wrote:
THIS I DECLARE about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God & I will trust Him.
(verse 2 NLT)
Can you hear the resolve? The unwavering faith? The Holman Old Testament Commentary says this:
Here is dynamic faith, a reliance upon God’s invincible might to be his refuge (mahceh, a place to flee for protection) and fortress (metsudah, a castle stronghold). He added, my God, in whom I trust (batach, to attach), firmly fixing himself to God in the midst of his threatening circumstances. This is what true faith is, a committing of oneself to God with full reliance on His ability to provide & protect.
(page 90, Volume 12)
May we ask ourselves, “What are we relying on? Where do I run?” For in those answers, we will find who or what we have committed ourselves to & rely upon. May our God grow us in faith that we will live fully committed to Him & relying upon His ability alone to provide & protect for us.
“A sovereign Protector I have.
Unseen, yet forever at hand.
Unchangeably faithful to save.
Almighty to rule & command.”
Augustus M. Toplady
