God Promises Protection
Have you ever felt like you were figuratively drowning in this life?
Verse of the Day
‘When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.’
Today’s Devotional
Because this verse mentions water in a couple different forms, it immediately makes me think of Hurricane Harvey and the flooding of our house. I no longer live in Houston, but there are many people there that I love dearly. Whenever there is is heavy rain forecasted, or a tropical storm warning in Houston…these kinds of reminders and the possibility of a repeat flooding event makes me very mindful of what we lived through. It forces me to remember.
When I read verses like this, my brain immediately begins to “argue” with the Bible. Why? Because there are people who die. There are people everyday who go through things and don’t make it out alive.
And then I am reminded of a study I did of the book of Daniel. In this study, written by Beth Moore, she says there are 3 ways we can be delivered with the “fire”.
- We can be delivered FROM the fire. From this our faith is strengthened.
- We can be delivered THROUGH the fire. From this our faith is refined.
- We can be delivered BY the fire into His arms. From this our faith is perfected.
Going back to Harvey, we were delivered FROM the flood waters, due to the fact that our family made it safely to Dallas as we evacuated. We had to drive through some scary roads, with more water on them than I was comfortable with. We were delivered THROUGH the flood as God helped us with every step of the process of restoring our home. He helped us with cleaning out the mess, throwing away almost everything that had been downstairs in our home. He sent people to help with this process that we had never met before, as well as many people we already knew and loved. He helped us rebuild, and gave us a safe place to live in the meantime. He gave us back our home in better condition than before the flood.
It likely makes you uncomfortable (like it does me) to spend much time thinking about option #3. But how many times have you said (or heard someone else say), “I will be so glad when Jesus comes back”? The people who are delivered BY the fire into God’s arms are still being protected, just not in a way that we would choose. We have no idea what God may be protecting them from on this earth. We must simply choose to believe in God’s protection, His method of protection, and that He has more information than we can see or comprehend.
Here’s what we know: God promises to protect us. And that there will be difficulties in this life that require His help and protection. Here’s what we don’t know: what His protection will look like.
If we are honest, this is a hard promise from God, because we want to be protected in the ways we think are best. But we must decide if our trust in a protecting God is bigger than getting the kind of protection we would choose. Looking back, I can see many instances of God protecting me. None of those methods of protection were things I would have chosen at the time. Today, I am able to look back on those events and be grateful. Which then builds my trust today that God will not allow me to be destroyed by the difficulties of this life. Because Has has promised His protection. Do we believe Him?
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Write down some examples (either current or past) of the deep waters, rivers of difficulty, or fires of oppression that you are facing.
How has God protected you in the past?
Where and how do you need God’s protection today?
How can you choose to trust in God’s promised protection, no matter what that protection looks like?