INVISIBLE GUARDS
PROVERBS 3:24-26
When you lie down you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.
Am reminded of an experience I encountered some years back when in my college industrial attachment, I happened to work in a reserve where banditry was common. I also resided in a lonely place which was frequently explored by wild animals. Every night was a nightmare of its kind since the commotion outside gave me the creeps. I had no guard in the compound nor were there any neighbors within reach. This made the situation more tense for me, especially in the evenings. Those readers who have been in such remote places full of insecurity, do understand the situation I was in. I had no otherwise but to accept my situation and bear the consequences.
Then the Lord worked my fear out. He had to show me that He was in control of every situation and since then, I always remember the challenge wherever I am in a fix and have always seen the Lord delivering. Unlike the other days when I got into the house in time, in this particular occasion, things seemed to go haywire for me, as a result I ran into the house late in the evening. I ran for fear of encountering animals en-route. I got into the house and thanked God for seeing me through. The night was such an ordeal. There were hyenas all over the compound. I couldn’t even think of going out even though I had the urge. I now do understand that the Lord was preparing me into trusting Him. Theres no way I can be able to stand and tell people not to be afraid when I am least bold.
King David understood the divine protection of the Lord in Psalm 23:4 when he said that he was not afraid of any evil even though he walked through the valley of the shadow of death. Many a times we find ourselves in such situations like David and in return we end up losing the battle by not trusting on the Lord’s divine intervention.
At least the night was over. I woke up and thanked the Lord for giving me yet another day……then I saw it! I had spent the night with the doors wide open! I realized that I got into the house the previous evening in such a hurry that I forgot to close the main door. All the doors were open and were it not for the Lord, the hyenas would have mouled me in my sleep. It was then that the Lord ministered to me today’s devotional text that when I lie down I will not be afraid; and when I lie down my sleep will be sweet. The Lord is an invisible guard to us who believe in Him. Trust Him and you will never be disappointed.
It may not sound such easy to trust upon Him not unless you give Him the opportunity to drill you. There are those people who claim that to have trusted the Lord through an event when on the contrary, had other means aside. Should one claim to trust the Lord when he is carrying a club or a sword to protect himself? You cannot cover yourself with three blankets and trust God for warmth. If in any case you have an answer to your problem, then do not bother the Lord with trust. If you know that the money in the bank shall enable you to purchase the land you are intending to buy, do not tell us that you are trusting God for money to buy the land. This is merely repeating oneself. You only need to thank the Lord. We have to trust the Lord to make ways where there are no ways and when a door opens, just get in!
How much do you trust the Lord? Do you claim to trust Him at night with a gun by your pillow? You may have invested too much on your personal security, that’s fine, but you ought to know that there are loopholes that human intelligence cannot control. There’s a time the world thought of a USA as the safest place to live in, but not after ‘September eleven’ when terrorists attacked several cities including the pentagon. A superpower without Jesus, is as powerless as boat in a stormy ocean.
