If you don’t mind, I would like to take a trip down memory lane – and oh what a trip this was. One clear autumn evening, while driving to class, I passed a large vehicle on the highway. I didn’t think twice about it, other than to notice that it was a classic tractor trailer. Mere moments later, a car in front of me abruptly slammed on its brakes, immediately triggering me to do the same. I happened to peek into my rear view mirror and noticed the tractor trailer that I passed a few miles ago approaching my vehicle rather quickly. I then heard the squawking of its hefty brakes and watched as the rear of the truck began to fishtail with the grace of an elephant on skates. In no time at all, the truck’s cab was right beside me on the shoulder. There was nothing I could do. It all happened so quickly, yet at this moment life seemed to move in slow motion. I knew that I would be seriously injured, if not killed, once the truck finally hit me. I could feel the rapid pounding of my heart and suddenly…traffic began to flow and I was able to drive out of harm’s way, unscathed, as though nothing had happened.
In all actuality, “nothing” had happened. Something major “could” have happened, like a tractor trailer crashing into me causing a major multi-car pileup. But it didn’t. Had I not taken that glance into my rearview, I probably would never have even known that I was in imminent danger. This caused me to take a close examination of my life and ponder on the many unseen dangerous circumstances that God blocked and protected me from. I could only thank Him, so when I reached school safely I bowed my head in humility and worshipped Him for His protection; protection from both seen and unseen danger.
Have you ever been in a life-threatening situation and then, just like that….nothing? You’ve just experienced God’s protection. We can all probably recall one or more similar experiences. Knowing that God protects us from seen dangers, we can only imagine His protection from the unseen. Psalm 121:5-7 says “5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” This passage in Psalm describes the Lord’s protection from dangers of all kinds. In Hebrew literature, a way of expressing totality was by naming a pair of opposites (“sun” and “moon” or “day” and “night”) to include everything between (see also Psalm 91:5-6)i. “The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night,” then, describes God’s protection from dangers we see (during the day) and those we don’t see (during the night).
So let’s take a moment to pause from life’s crazy demands and thank the Holy Spirit for His faithful and continued protection. ___________________________ i. http://www.bibleteachingnotes.com/templates/System/details.asp?id=29183&fetch=8457