When I make the statement, “God protects us”, what do those words mean to you? I asked this question recently, and only got a small response. However, that response, in and of itself, was interesting. Have you ever pondered that question? How do you perceive God protecting you? It seems for some people, that is a difficult question to ask, as well as answer. Unless you’ve had some major tragedy or a brush with danger, you don’t seem to really see his protection around you. I think we have become lazy in seeing that protection because we are used to it, and have taken if for granted. God protects his people, and he will do so with a vengeance! And sometimes, it can be a very painful experience…….
Protection comes in all sorts of manner. Some of the responses I received were broad – such as “he protects us from evil, or harm. He is security”. Another response stated that “Sometimes the Lord rides out the storm with us and other times he calms the restless sea around us. Some stated that just knowing God loves them, and by embracing his love, it gets them thru the toughest times. His love is a protection that he provides. Another saw his protection miraculously thru a personal, life threatening situation. So there are many ways that God protects us, and you can see that there are many ways that people interpret that protection in their lives.
I pondered ways that I have personally seen God protect me, and while there were times I didn’t know it was happening at that moment, I can go back and say – “yeah – God had my back on that one!” But I also brought to myself another question to ponder. I’ve noticed that in most responses, people focus on how God has protected them thru a challenge – or a bad situation; how God has protected them FROM something or someone outside of their own person. But this time I asked myself ….. “does God protect us from OURSELVES” To become everything that God asks of us – to follow the path he lays out for us to follow, we have to be willing to give up our own selves – every aspect – in order for him to work his plans, and his desires within us. And that is a very hard thing to do, because of our sinful nature. We know what we want, and sometimes we even try to align our desires and make God “fit” into our will – not his. Never be presumptuous in what you think is God’s will. Numbers 14:44-45 says, “Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord’s covenant moved from the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.” Frankly, I’m tired of being beaten down to Hormah! Did I allow presumptions to take over his will in my life?
Someone said to me recently, “God is protecting you”, while talking about a recent experience in my own life. Ok – I can accept that and it makes sense…. He only wants what’s best for me…. But WHAT is he protecting me from?? Submitting yourself before God is a very humbling and sometimes humiliating experience. Then it popped into my head ….. “Maybe he’s protecting me from myself”. In my analytical mind, I start asking all sorts of questions, and variations thereof …. If God is protecting me from a bad thing, why does he allow it to go the length it does? Is he using an experience, and tragedy, a relationship to teach me a lesson? A quality? A point of thought to bring me back into line with his will for my life? Has he been telling me all along that this was not his path for me, and I chose to ignore it?
So let’s look at what the Bible says about God’s protection: There are so many, but these few stuck out to me,
PS 32:7 – “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” – He protects us in times of trouble.
Pr 2:11 – “Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.” – A great verse! These are areas of the mind …. The way we think of things – discretion and understanding …. Those come with time and knowledge. God gives us the ability to learn and grow in our thinking, and in a way – he protects us thru that knowledge!
1Cor 13:7 – “Love …. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” – Love – the very word speaks of God. It says it right there … it always protects. So if we learn to love as Christ loved, and God’s love protects us, then we, in turn, protect those we share that love with. Love is a big one. Do you truly know how to love someone with the love of God?
God tells us in his word, (Proverbs 1:33) that if we listen to him, we will live in safety and be at ease without fear of harm. Listening to God sometimes gets hard to do. We clutter our minds and thoughts full of things of this world – work, kids, dinner, grocery shopping, car repairs, more work, when do I get a vacation??!! …. But if we stop and just calm our spirit and listen to our Father in Heaven, he will protect us from all these things. It’s in his word, so we can take it as truth! So what happens when God has to protect us from ourselves? I believe that he does, and sometimes he’ll do it in drastic ways. Have you ever had something not go the way you wanted, only be mad and blame God for it because you thought it should be a different way? Next time you have thoughts of “God did this to me!”, think twice. Yeah …. He probably did! Bottom line is this …. God has a plan for you, and he has a plan for me. If I am letting things distract me from that path, God is going to do what he needs to do to bring me back in line with his will for my life, even if that means losing a lot in the process. Take relationships for example. I do not believe that God wants to ruin friendships or relationships in order to “get you back on track”. I believe those people are put in your life, by him, for a reason. Some stay around for the long haul. Others move on. It’s painful, but you have to learn from that pain so that God can move you forward. Sometimes, God’s calling on your life means a great sacrifice on your part. Are you willing? If you are – do you not believe that God is going to protect you and see that you make it thru the fires of the enemy’s attacks? Of course he will ….. even if it means he has to protect you from yourself until you finally “get it”, and realize that the person who needs to change is you. Not everyone else.
So when God protects you from yourself, and you question him as to why he’s being so mean to you ….. Just remember, he’s putting you back on track to fulfill the destiny that he has put before you. He has a purpose for you. And he will protect you throughout the development of that purpose …. Even if it’s against yourself and your own thinking that he has to provide that protection. So it’s not just the attacks around you that God protects you from. Sometimes it’s from your own self-inflicted destruction. He is never going to let you go, and he will see you thru to the end! He who began a good work in you is always …. ALWAYS faithful to complete it!!
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