On the defensive

The Lord is your Protector. The Lord stands by your side, shading and protecting you. The sun cannot harm you during the day, and the moon cannot harm you at night. The Lord will protect you from every danger. He will protect your soul. The Lord will protect you as you come and go, both now and forever! (Psalm 121:5-8)

When someone has a "bodyguard" they have someone standing watch over your life. I have never been famous enough to need a bodyguard, nor have I had enough wealth to support such an expensive "personal protection" service for my life and I honestly don't believe I need one. I have gone into some pretty scary places, unarmed with natural weapon, nor supported by any burly dude big enough to stand up to any attacker who might come my way. I have been awakened to some "creepy" noises and wondered if someone was about to pounce on me in the dark of the night. I haven't felt the need for another protector in my life because I have the privilege of being protected by the biggest "bodyguard" there is! He not only protects my body, but my soul and spirit, as well!

A protector is one who stands in a defensive mode in your life - one who is at the ready to provide whatever intervention is necessary to see that your safety is assured. Whether it is attack, invasion, potential loss, or just plain annoyances which are coming upon you, the Lord stands ready to defend. Attack carries the idea of being "fought against" in a violent manner. It isn't just a call to give over your jewels and wallet, it is a lunging of full force against you in order to overtake and over-power you. When we think of being "attacked", it brings to mind the hostilities of aggressive and over-powering behavior. Invasion carries the idea of "entering into" your life - unwelcomed, often unnoticed, but with the intent to do harm. We think of germs as "invading" forces which enter into the body and then set up shop to do their destructive work within you as their "host" for their activity.

God stands as our defender from attack, invasion, loss, and even annoying things. He is on the ready - at the guard - not like the burly personal bodyguard of the rich and famous, but as the defender of our souls, spirits, and bodies. His "impressiveness" isn't his "size", but his authority. We can invite things into our lives that bring resulting problems, but God isn't to blame for the bad stuff which comes when we do. He still was standing guard - we just didn't let him do his job! We opened the door for the attack, or invited in the thing which is giving us the greatest of problems now. We knew he set up a defensive to not allow these things INTO our lives, but we chose to "shut down" his defenses by our rebellion and self-determined behavior. It is as though we "ducked out" on our bodyguard and now we find ourselves in a "problematic situation".

When we embrace the authority of God in our lives, we can rest assured we will be upheld by his hand. When we resist it, we can also be assured he will not leave his post. He is at the ready to set in order what we allowed to create chaos in our lives once we come to the recognition of the futility of our misguided "judgment calls" which allowed us to "skirt" his authority. This is called restoration - something we'd need a whole lot less of if we'd just trust his "defense" of our lives a little more! Just sayin!