You Are Protected

          Thanksgiving has passed but I hope we are still in the thankful mindset all year long. There are a host of things to be thankful for. Through church and family gatherings I have heard so many of the normal things people are thankful for which include: Salvation, Bible, our country, families and the list goes on and on. There is another one that has been brought to the forefront of my mind lately.....God's protection in our lives daily.
God has told us He will protect us, but I wonder how many times do we actually acknowledge the times He protected us. Isaiah 43:2 "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Really the whole chapter of Psalm 91 is good, but my favorite verses are 11, 14-15 "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: i will set him on high. because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him."  The event that brought this on happened on Tuesday. I was backing our van out of a parking space, as usual I looked behind me didn't see anyone directly behind me, but saw two cars on either side. I continued to keep backing up fully confident nothing was behind me, then for some reason I stopped for a second, as I went to press the gas I saw in my mirror directly behind me a car that it seemed was inches from the van. I pushed the brake as hard as I could. That overwhelming relief flooded through me, and I told the Lord thank you for His protection. Now I most likely would not have been killed by this, but the Lord saved me from a very unpleasant circumstance.
        This incident has gone through my mind many times since it happened, there was no reason for me to stop backing up, it was just the Lord's protection. I wonder how many times the Lord protects me or someone I love from danger during the day. I shudder to think of all the danger that is before us each day that the Lord so lovingly moves out of our path.
         Bad things happen to people all of the time, this does not mean the Lord slipped up or 'forgot' to protect them; but as we know sometimes He simply allows things to happen to us for our good and for His glory. If we could see just how much He protects us from compared to what He allows us to go through I believe we all would fall on our knees in thanksgiving and praise to Him.
         This post is not to scare anyone from walking out their door everyday, but simply to make you aware of how thankful we all should be for the Lord's protection in our lives. For most of us the Lord gives us such 'smooth' lives, sometimes we don't see where if ever He has protected us.

Lest you think you don't need the Lord's protection -
* Parents - As good as a parent as you think you are, you still need the Lord's protection! 
Perhaps while you weren't looking your child picked up a penny or small object and swallowed it...the Lord allowed that penny or object to slide down your child's throat perfectly, so they wouldn't choke; though there have been many cases of a child choking on something small. 


* Driver - The road is so very dangerous, there are SO many times I can remember whether I was a passenger or driving, that I know the Lord stepped in and protected me/us.
Perhaps while you weren't looking the Lord made that other careless, distracted driver look up at the right time, to swerve back into their own lane to keep you both from hitting each other head on.  Perhaps when you were driving and weren't paying attention the Lord helped guide you away from hurting yourselves or someone else.

* Person
Perhaps while you weren't looking the Lord protected your house from burning down.
Perhaps while you weren't looking the Lord protected your spouse, child, siblings, parents or friends from an illness or dangerous situation that could cost their lives.

The ones I listed are all physical situations but the Lord's protection occurs everyday in our spiritual lives too. How many times does He guide people or circumstances away from you because He knew it would destroy your spiritual life? Many times I'm sure!

       

I listed only a very few of the thousands of times the Lord protects us from danger. I hope you can see in your own life some of the times the Lord has protected you from harm or a difficult circumstance. Sometimes through our own carelessness, other times through someone else's carelessness. There are so many attributes of God that we can and should be thankful for, I hope this is a small reminder of how thankful we should be for the Lord's protection we can see everyday, and also the 'undercover' protection (times we will never know about) too!