Encouraging Affirmation: “I am never without the protection of an All-powerful, Almighty God, who is my own heavenly Father!”

Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue and honor him—Psalm 91:14-15

How quickly life can go from normal, routine, trouble-free, quiet and peaceful to   troubling and spinning out of control. At those times and when life changes suddenly we are feeling a lot of things: fearful, unprotected, wondering, nervous, anxious. Inner feelings and thoughts do not always line up with what is true. For example, we may not always feel or always think we are being protected by God, but the truth is we are it is part of God’s natural instinct, nature, and character to protect those who love him and those whom he loves and has created by his own hand. From day to day he is watching, guarding, covering, shielding, extending care and guarding. There is not one minute of our life he has taken his eyes off us or left us uncovered.

Humanly this is hard for us to grasp because as flesh we don’t have that capacity or ability to protect someone one hundred percent of the time. Maybe a slim chance of doing so if they are in our vision; but not even that is guaranteed. And seldom if ever when they are out of our sight or reach.

God provides a protection we cannot always see or even feel, but it is there and it is one of the powerful, eternal promises he has placed over us. Even now his shield is around us; he is protecting us from something the forces of evil are attempting to do to us, protecting us from the things we cannot see with our physical eye.

At times, when a mob came at Jesus, he may not have felt physically protected in that moment, but he knew God would not let harm come to him; he had a purpose to fulfill: his trust in the Father overrode any human emotion that may have crept in. When Paul was in physical danger so many times and people were trying to stone him, push him off cliffs, murder him, he may not have felt protected in that moment, but he was and of course he always looked back, giving glory to God for deliverance and safety.

An elderly neighbor recently went on a trip to Florida. For weeks, each time I saw her in her yard she would tell me how much she was looking forward to seeing Florida; a place she had never been but always wanted to go. My husband and I were saddened when we found out after only three days in there, she had experienced a bad fall and had to be flown home for medical treatment. She is better now, healing and getting stronger. At the time of her fall, she did not feel protected by God. In fact, she wondered why he didn’t keep her from falling or going to Florida at all. I told her what if we chose to believe God had cushioned her fall and kept it from being worse or even tragic. That brought a smile to her face, and as she said, a perspective that comforted and reassured her.

There are times God wants/needs us to separate feeling and thoughts from knowledge and truth, like separating fact from fiction. Bad things happen, trouble comes, sometimes out of nowhere and it’s easy to think God was not protecting us, easy to wonder or doubt if he was watching over us at that moment. That’s natural, human instinct and emotion or thought. But faith and trusting in our faithful, promising God tells us to hang on to what we know to be true: God is not only always watching, but he is also always protecting, always covering, always shielding, always putting us in a safe place, whether it is under the shadow of his wing, behind a spiritual fence, or becoming our Strong Tower we can run to and hide behind.  Sometimes his protection means nothing at all will touch us and sometimes it means the blow(s) will be lessened and not have the impact or outcome it might have had without God’s protection and care. Just like god will never let us be separated from his love he will never let us be separated from his protection.

Prayer of Affirmation: Our mighty and all-powerful God we let go of all subconscious thoughts or feelings that would cause us to doubt the protection you give us. It is your nature and instinct to protect your own. It is a promise you have made and spoken over us long before we were ever born or thought of by humans. We affirm this mighty promise over us and in our lives and release our fears and feelings to you. We claim your promise of protection as our own which enables us to live free from worry, free from fear, free from anxiety, free from doubt and rejoice knowing your protection is with us each day and is as fresh and powerful as your mercies which are also ours daily. In the name of Jesus who lives and reigns on high with you, we pray. Amen       

Affirming Activity: When frightful or troubling times arise speak this encouraging affirmation over yourself as often as needed in order to be physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually strengthened. Remember even though you may not always feel protected, or think you are protected God has a protective nature and instinct that will never end or be diminished.