6/25/15
The Lord watches over you
The Lord is your shade at your right hand
The sun will not harm you by day
Nor the moon by night.
The Lord is your shade at your right hand
The sun will not harm you by day
Nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep
you from all harm
He will watch over your life:
The Lord will watch over your coming and going
Both now and forevermore.
He will watch over your life:
The Lord will watch over your coming and going
Both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121:5-8
(NIV)
(NIV)
I have never had a problem with lack of faith in God. I believed what I learned about God. I believed all that I read in the Bible. I spent twelve years in a Christian school, and then I went to a Christian College. By the time I graduated I had a very good foundation of knowledge about God, His works, and the history of how the Church had evolved. I do not mention this to brag. I just want to give you a peek into the education I had. The result was that, as I wrote in the beginning, I grew up with a strong faith that never wavers.
Having said that there are times when I wonder what something in the Bible means.
For instance, there are so many places in the Bible where we are assured that God will never leave us or forsake us. I believe that God in His way is keeping His promise. After all the in the Bible God tells us that His thoughts are above our thoughts and His ways are not always understood by us. He wants us to believe Him even if we do not understand what He says.
My questions are built around the fact that when the Lord "keeps us from all harm," then why do people have so many challenges and catastrophes to face in life. A child dies of Cancer. A person looses his job and cannot find a new one for a long time. By the time he does get a job he has become penniless and has not been able to support his family. A marriage goes on the rocks. A person who has taken care of her husband for more than twenty years of suffering with MS. Five years after he has passed away she starts to notice stiffness in her legs. She is diagnosed with ALS...Lou Gehrig. (This is a true story about a friend of mine.) The list goes on and on. It makes one wonder how God who saves us from harm from the sun by day and from the moon by night, allows such trials. I believe, but I wonder.
I was thinking about this the other day and I began to understand in a different way...no longer taking it literally. These words are not a promise to shield me from all trials. I live in a fallen world, and in the world there are challenges that I must face. However, in the final analysis, He has my back and has a plan to unite with me in heaven after my life has ended. What could be better than that?
Lord, thank you for having my back when I face earthly trials. You always guide me in the way I should go. I cannot imagine life without you in it. You are my alpha and omega forever. Amen.
Written by
Corinne Mustafa
In times of challenge or pain try to keep yourself aware of the fact that you are not alone. God is by your side guiding you through the mazes of life out of pain and back into happiness.
ReplyDeleteGod bless...
This has been a difficult concept for me to accept as well. I think that our literal minds take these translations to heart and forget that the words that we read are translated into our human version of safety. But infinite safety is so much more than we can ever comprehend. I am glad that we have lovely, tender-hearted women like you to give us greater insight into His Precious Word!
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