God sees and knows our needs. God knows more than anything that in our weakness we need Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 (a) says,
"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him."
God Will Show Himself Strong
If we are sincere and faithful to the Lord He will "show Himself strong" on our behalf. He will defend and provide for us. He will watch over and protect us. Like David before the Philistine giant, God will defend us. David had seen God's hand of protection before. He told Saul that God had rescued him from a bear and a lion and that he would also rescue him from Goliath. David fully trusted God to show Himself strong.
If God Is For Us
Many times we think God is not for us, that He is against us. When bad things happen we want to blame Him. If we love Him and are faithful, then as Paul says in Romans 8:31,
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Paul experienced more suffering than many of us can imagine and yet He concludes that God is for us! No matter the suffering we endure we are not separated from the love of Christ. (Romans 8: 37-39)
Elisha's Servant's Eyes Are Opened
In 2 Kings Chapter 6 we read the story of Elisha and the Syrian army. The Syrian army came and surrounded the city at night. Elisha's servant seeing the many warriors was worried. What would become of them? Elisha prayed that his servant's eyes would be opened that he could see that His Lord was with him, his God was for him. Then in 2 Kings 6: 17(b)-18 we read what happened,
"Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha."
Elisha had no doubts about who was on his side. He knew already who it was that was for him.
God is Our Refuge
In Psalm 91: 1-2 we are told,
"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
When we trust totally in God's love and protection then He will be our refuge, the fortress we run to for protection. Why do I know this to be true? Because when my trust is placed fully and completely in Him, He will be faithful, as ever, to His word.
The Lord Surrounds His People
How blessed are we that our Lord surrounds us.
"As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever." Psalm 125:2
Our Lord lifts us up, lives within us and watches over us forever. We will one day live with Him and our victory over death, made possible by his Son, will be ours.
God Protects Us
In Job, God describes Job as a "man who fears God and shuns evil". (Job 1: 8) . The Devil speaks up and basically says it's easy for Job to be obedient because, the devil tells God, God had placed "a hedge and around him and his household and everything he has". (Job 1:10). In Biblical times people would literally surround their homes with thorny hedges to keep out animals. This is a metaphor they would understand. God literally can protect us in the same way today if we "fear God and shun evil".
Our Faith Protects Us
God protects us also through the gift of faith. In Ephesians 6: 16 Paul tells us this,
"In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."
The greater our faith in God the more our shield will protect us.
The Holy Spirit Restrains Evil
Our greatest gift of protection is found in the Holy Spirit. According to 2 Thessalonians 2: 7
"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way"
The restrainer of evil and lawlessness is the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit present in us and in the world, the Devil would have the ability to do evil like we cannot even imagine.
God Promises and Does What He Promises
The word of God promises, and God does what He promises: He sees our need; God shows Himself strong; He is our refuge; He places protection around us; He blesses us with the gift of faith, our shield against evil; and He gives us the Holy Spirit who restrains evil.
Thanks be to the Lord!
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