My husband and I just experienced a trying time, a scary time, an uncertain time.
I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection. I looked around a bit, seeing live oaks and Spanish moss and the mounted airplanes marking the entrance to a Marine airbase. My gaze moved to the rear view mirror and what I saw was terrifying. It was the grill of a large black vehicle coming at us… fast and hard. I had time to scream, then the collision.
When I called 911, my hands were shaking. I gave the necessary information, and just before hanging up, I cried. My hands shook as my finger was bandaged and as I talked to the deputy. I could barely sign the reports.
The one thing that never crossed my mind, however, was our true safety. I determined long ago, just like David, that the Lord is my fortress. In Him is ultimate safety, even if my finger is skinned, my hands shake, and the outcome is uncertain.
See, David didn’t say we would not experience fear or pain in that fortress. A fortress is for protection from the things and people that can hurt us, even kill us.
What happens, though, is that we recognize that God is the ultimate protection, the amazing shield that keeps us truly safe.
But wait, I have a skinned up finger that still hurts several days later. I have ribs that hurt when I touch them or move certain ways. What kind of protection is that?
God’s protection is beyond the physical. Yes, the physical hurts, but as hubby and I talked with the other driver and her little boy, we were at peace. There was no shouting, no accusations, no ugliness. Though shaken, we were calm, knowing that we were protected in all the ways that matter most.
If you haven’t made that determination, trusting in God alone as your fortress, your shelter of protection, I urge you to do so today. Don’t wait. You don’t know how soon you’ll need that. True peace has no price, and is found only in Him.
Too many times we think that having God’s protection means that we are never hurt, never scared, never have to deal with stuff, but life tells us differently. That doesn’t mean that God’s protection is not there. It means that our ultimate protection is right there in place, and that God, as He has said in Romans, will work everything for our good. Now, as I’ve said before, sometimes we don’t know what His good, what our good truly is, according to Him.
Woo! I didn’t feel like it was good Saturday. Honestly, I did not feel like having that wreck was a good thing. I mean, I was just sitting there at the red light minding my business. Somehow or another God is going to work this all out. And it’s going to be to our good and his glory. One thing that has happened from this was we were able to talk to the other driver and to her husband who came to pick her up about how God protected all of us. We were able to talk about how none of us were injured, even though it could have been much, much worse.
We were able to tell people that we came across throughout — we were able to talk to the deputies about how God had protected and taken care of all of us. We were able to talk about this whole thing to our server at the restaurant where we ate that night. We were able to talk about it to the lady at the hotel the next evening, we were able to talk to people on a trolley ride at restaurants. And everywhere that we were, we were able to tell this story about how this wreck that could have been horrible. And it was for our car. It’s in pretty rough shape. But for us, for us, the believers in Christ, the ones who are protected in the fortress of God, we are good. And so every step of the way, we were giving Him glory. So it’s a good thing, right? We are able to shout out from within our fortress, God is good!
So every time I feel the twinge in my ribs, and I still feel them, it’s been three days and they’re still tender. And my finger hurts. Can’t deny it. But I can think back to it could have been a whole lot worse. And I recognize that God had his hands on us, keeping it from being worse. I will remember that inside the fortress, we can still get hurt. Physically, we can still feel pain, we can still feel scared. I mean, can you imagine within the walled cities of old that the people just sat there and they were like, nothing’s gonna happen. It’s all good. Or do you think that they were scared and they fought back? Yeah. So you can still feel scared. And you can still get hurt, even within the safety of the fortress, but you are not decimated.
God will use his protection to bring you about to all that’s good for you. And for His glory. Let’s work at deciding that God is our fortress, our rock, our place of safety, our shield. And let’s live from that, instead of cowering in fear. Make the decision now and live and walk in it every day so that when the time comes that you need that shield, that protection, that fortress, you are ready, you know you’re already in it, and the peace will be beyond what you can comprehend. It really will. I know you can do that. I do. I believe in you. And better than that. God Himself believes in you.
Coffee, Bible, Journal.
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