In God's Safe Keeping

“God will protect you with his pinions; you’ll find refuge under his wings. His faithfulness is a protective shield.” Psalm 91:4 (CEB)

Brooks looked up from the morning devotion he had been reading and said that the writer had made the statement that God protects us from all danger. His question and the discussion that followed was does God protect us from ALL danger? I knew this topic would need further investigation, so I made a note to look into this a bit more. If you read the entire 91st Psalm, you see over and over that His protection is available to us. How, then do we reconcile this with the disasters, sicknesses and other tragic things that happen to God’s people?

God is the giver of life, He sustains our lives. He is the ultimate keeper of our lives as we see in the promise from Romans 8:38-39. The apostle Paul writes these words, “I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers or height or depth, or any other thing that is created.” This tells us that God can and will!

Here are a few more verses that assure us of His protection and keeping:

· The LORD is your protector; the LORD is your shade right beside you. Psa 121:5

· No weapon fashioned against you will succeed. Isa 54:17

· Still, not a hair on your heads will be lost. By holding fast, you will gain your lives. Luke 21:18-19

You may still be thinking about people you know who have suffered with sickness or lost their lives to a horrible disease. What about all those Christian brothers and sisters in places where they are killed for the simple act of following Jesus? Where was their protection? Why do such things happen? This is an age old question, and one I personally can’t answer within myself, but I know WHO has the answer and I must trust in HIM! The answer key to this question is in Matthew 10:28. “Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but can’t kill the soul. Instead, be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” (CEB)

Our answer is this: be afraid of the one who CAN destroy body and soul for all eternity!

Evil can (and will) harm us in this life, but it can only do so much harm. Satan can make months, or years, or even decades miserable for us, but his leash is short, and eternity long. Our flesh, our relationships, our feelings are painfully vulnerable for now, but our souls are perfectly and perpetually safe. “He will keep your life” (Psalm 121:7) — the life that matters most, the most satisfying and meaningful life, the one that lasts forever. (www.desiringgod.org)

As I come to a close, I think we can agree that in this world there will be tribulation and trials (John 16:33). We are being kept for eternity, to live forever with God and His Christ. We have something awaiting us as we can see in this passage from 1 Peter 4-5. Meditate on this and be confident in God’s protection.

“You have a pure and enduring inheritance that cannot perish – an inheritance that is presently kept safe in heaven for you. Through his faithfulness, you are guarded by God’s power so that you can receive the salvation he is ready to reveal in the last time.” (CEB)