God’s Protection

Living in the world full of sins, deceits, snares and temptations, we do need God’s guidance as well as God’s protection.  We are like “sheep in the midst of wolves” (Matt 10:16), and the Devil is like “a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The naive and wandering sheep are only easy prey to lions, wolves, or fierce beasts. Without God’s protection, we are only helpless victims of the Devil. Knowing this truth, we shall humbly hide ourselves in God and His protection.  

God’s Perfect Protection

In perilous, risky or threatening situations, many turn to men or human means and resources, but sadly they never have true and lasting peace. God’s Word teaches us to turn to the Lord, the Creator, who created the heaven and the earth, human beings and all things in it: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber... The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand… The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore” (Ps 121:1-3, 5, 7-8). To be kept by God Himself, you and I will be secure. The Lord Jesus confirms, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand” (John 10:27-29). 

  

God’s Power: We can fully trust in God’s protection because of His power. God is all-powerful and all-wise to create the heaven and the earth, the universe, human beings and all things in it (Jer 32:17; Rev 4:11); He is all-powerful to save sinners who repent and believe in Him (Rom 1:16; Heb 7:25); and He is all-powerful to keep His children, “who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). God’s children still encounter temptations, accidents, persecutions, dangers, etc., but God is able to keep their hearts in peace, to keep them from evil, and to keep them faithful to Him unto death. God “is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 1:24).

God’s Faithfulness: “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” (Deut 7:9). We can fully trust in God’s protection because of His faithfulness, “But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil” (2 Thess 3:3). 

Be Cautious, Prayerful and Hiding Ourselves in Christ: We cannot take God’s protection for granted and do whatever we like or go wherever we want. That is a sin of testing God! Satan tempted the Lord Jesus to jump down from a pinnacle of the temple owing to God’s promise, “He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee” (Luke 4:9-10), but the Lord Jesus did not do that, saying, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (v 12). We cannot drive carelessly and then expect God to keep us safe. We cannot expect God to keep us holy while watching evil movies, reading worldly novels or going to entertainment centres full of temptations! The Lord Jesus resisted Satan until he fled from Him, and we have to do the same, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Dear friends, we have to keep ourselves (1 John 5:18), to “be sober, and be vigilant” (1 Peter 5:8), to “watch and pray” (Matt 26:41) and to hide ourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 1; Ps 91:1).

 

Live in God’s Presence: To be kept from sins and evil, we are to walk in God’s light and practise living in God’s presence everywhere and all the time, “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved” (Ps 16:8) and “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). 

 The Lord Jesus’ Prayer: We can stand firm not because we are more clever than others but because the Lord Jesus prays for us, “Holy Father, keep through thine own name those,… thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:11, 15), “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25). The Devil desired to sift Peter, but the Lord said, “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:32). Knowing this, we shall be more humble and much more grateful to the Lord Jesus.

Have you been kept by the Lord’s power, faithfulness and prayer? 

Trust in God and His Protection: God’s promises are, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isa 26:3) and “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24). Do you and I wholeheartedly trust in God and His protection? Every doubt is sin and will hinder you and me from being blessed by the Lord.

 

Commit Everything to the Lord: God only keeps what we have committed unto Him. If I ask you to keep my house keys but do not pass them to you, you cannot help me. Many pray to the Lord for protection but do not commit their lives to Him! Their lives are not the Lord’s. They still do whatever they like and go wherever they want regardless of God’s will and Word, and then how can God keep them? Paul committed his life and ministry to the Lord, “nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Tim 1:12). Have you and I truly committed everything to the Lord? “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7).

Love God and Keep His Word: We must be God’s beloved and obedient children, “The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy” (Ps 145:20) and “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev 3:10). Many say that they love the Lord, but their lives and worship are not according to His Word! The Lord Jesus confirms, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Do you and I love God and keep His Word?

 

Be Kind to the Needy: Sometimes we forget that God is concerned for the poor and needy. His Word says, “He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he… He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again” (Prov 14:21; 19:17). The Lord Jesus was moved with compassion on the needy who did not have His guidance, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Matt 9:36). To be kind to the poor and the needy and be concerned for their souls by sharing with them God’s love and salvation is a good work we should do if we want God to keep us in time of trouble, “Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies” (Ps 41:1-2). Do you and I do this good work?