God’s Protection

   A friend of mine who is a pastor requested me to write an article titled God’s Protection. At first I was a bit reluctant and told her that I didn’t know much because it has been ages since I prayed for protection. I just take it for granted. I feel His presence all over and around, and within me. His grace is sufficient to protect me! So, I sat down to do some serious introspection. As I was meditating, the first thing that popped into my head was King David’s Psalm 91. Psalm 91 is synonymous with God’s protection. Whenever a Christian thinks of protection, I’m sure they’re thinking of this psalm amongst other things. So what is God’s protection? Is it a promise to protect us from evil, harm, danger? Well, in a way – yes. But then, we need to agree on the definition first! God’s protection does not mean you won’t have hardships or snakes and lions coming right at you. Yes, the army will come alright, just like they did with King David, Jehoshaphat, and Moses. They will shoot at you, attempt to slice and dice you. Sometimes you won’t have to move a finger. You can just lay there and God will fix them good {Be still and know that I am God – Psalm 46:10}. At other times, you may need to fight a spiritual battle like King Jehoshaphat did by sending a battalion of …err…singers {praise and worship} before the troops. And sometimes, He will let the storm rock your boat. And while you’re frantically crying out to Him whilst being tossed around in frenzy, He will wake up, yawn unperturbed and calm your storm 😉 And sometimes, just sometimes – He lets the storm destroy your boat, the waters take away your belongings, you see your friends and family drown, and while you’re holding on to dear life on a measly ledge like Rose {Kate Winslet in the movie Titanic (whom I despised as a teenager because she got Leo and worse, let him die)}, He teaches you to walk on the stormy waters.

    Surely, I wouldn’t want to be Job. He was rich enough. He was blessed in every way possible. I would be content with just that much. I wouldn’t want such a mighty storm just to get double. But sometimes, God removes His hedge of protection to let you grow, to teach you to walk on stormy waters, to do the humanly-impossible by depending solely on Him, His grace, His mercy in faith. So, am I saying all storms are good and that we should stop praying for protection? No way! I hate storms. I prefer basking in God’s shadow under the protection of His wings. By all means, please pray for God’s protection. You don’t know if you’re in a Moses/Israelites-Pharoah/Egyptians war or in the midst of a mighty spiritual warfare like King Jehoshaphat. Maybe you are sipping on coffee with Jesus in your boat. I do not know the season you are in. God will protect you in His own way. A thousand may fall dead beside you, ten thousand all around you. But you will not be harmed – Psalm 91:7. Your boat may rock, even sink to the bottom of the ocean. But you’ll survive if you keep your eyes fixed on Him. He will teach you to walk on the stormy waters. Many people lose faith when the storm comes. They accuse God of being a liar or even worse – fictional. They say God promised me absolute protection and safety and look at what is happening in my life! Well, He didn’t promise to keep your boat safe now, did He? Your boat may drown; but if you hang on to Him, you’ll probably be piggybacking on Jesus while he swims you to the shores of safety. Or even better, He may just teach you to walk on water{like Peter} or part the sea{like Moses}. So what’s your boat? Is it your job/ savings/ home/ health/ marriage/ children? Hold on to Jesus, not the variables in a storm. If your marriage is rooted in Jesus, it will survive the storm. If your children are rooted in Jesus, they will survive the storm. But if you hold on to them {your sinking boat} instead of Jesus, and they are not rooted in Jesus, you’re all going down. On the other hand, even if they are not rooted in Jesus, and you focus on Jesus, they can hold on to you and survive the storm. Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved : you and your family. – Acts 16:31.

  May Almighty God bless you and keep you safe always.
- Ruelha