God's Protection Over Us

When I first sat down to write my devotion tonight, I truly had no idea what I was going to write. Before I write these devotions, I always pray to God to give me the words that He wants me to write. But I just wasn't hearing what He was telling me to write. Oh, how fast things can change!

I was sitting down, all comfy in my recliner with my laptop and Bible in my lap, getting ready to write a devotion. I was praying for God to give me the right words to say. All of a sudden all of my smoke detectors starting going off and the house started filling with smoke! I had just turned on the heat - I normally keep it at about 58 (yes, I am menopausal and cheap!) but decided to go for it and set it up to 60! Well, that was a mistake! I really started panicking. When I was in 7th grade one of my best friends died in a fire. I have never gotten over his death and am deathly afraid of fires now.

Well, I turned off the heat and immediately called the fire department. The operator told me to get out of the house and wait until the fire department arrived. I grabbed my warm coat and off into the night I went in my sweats, tee shirt, and flip flops! Soon one fireman arrived, followed by five more firemen. I was never so glad to see anyone in my life! These six firemen were wonderful! They calmed a close to hysterical woman and explained to me that the smoke had to do with my furnace and I would need to have it checked out. They told me not to run it until I did have it checked (thank goodness for those hot flashes!).

Once the firemen left and I calmed down and started thinking about the events of the evening, I started thinking about how just like the firemen were there for me tonight, God is always there for us. He is there to calm our fears, to protect us, watch over us. I am so thankful for his protection over us. I am so thankful that we can go to him with our doubts and fears. I am so very, very thankful that He is always there for us - I don't need to dial the phone to have him come to my home - He lives here, with me, every day, all the time!

Thank you, Lord, for always being there for us. Thank you for your protection. Thank you for peace that only you can give us! Thank you for always living within us, each and every day! Thank you, Lord, for protecting me tonight and keeping me safe!

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2

RUNNING AWAY FROM OUR PROTECTOR

Yesterday I was doing a lot of driving around - going to garage sales, running errands, getting my haircut - just normal Saturday routine. But it seemed like everywhere I went I would see this beautiful dog. She was a golden colored, probably was part golden retriever, and fairly big. The first time I saw her yesterday was when I was passing by the Rail Trail. I thought she just was walking ahead of her master and didn't think much about it. Then about an hour later I saw her again - all alone - walking down a very curvy, dangerous street. I was so frightened for her. She looked like she was trying to find something to eat. She was grabbing at things on the ground. I pulled over and called my daughter and told her to look up somewhere we could take her if I could get her to come to me. I could tell she did not have on a collar so there was no way I could call her owner. I got out of the car and got a closer look at her. It was obvious she had had puppies recently. I tried to go up to her but she ran off. She would not let me anywhere near her. She ran around the corner and I heard a car blare its horn. I just wanted to cry. I just knew that she had been hit. But when I drove around the corner, she was nowhere to be found. I drove home in tears, I was so worried about her.

About 30 minutes later, my daughter and I were getting back into my car at my house to go get something to eat. My daughter was backing out and all of the sudden stopped and shouted "Mom, is that the dog you were trying to help?" I looked out my window and saw her!! I couldn't believe she had made it to my house, which was probably about 3 miles from where I last saw her. I jumped out and we once again tried to get her to come to us and, once again, she took off running with her tail between her legs. I couldn't believe it! All I was doing was trying to keep this dog safe!!

We got back into the car and started to pull out of our complex. All of the sudden we heard brakes squeal and looked up and there she was again! Just slowly walking across the street, right in front of a car! Although she was terrified of people, this dog seemed to have no fear of cars!

Once again, we took off after the dog. We saw her on the street next to ours and got out of the car and tried to get her to come to us again! Bet you can guess what happened!! She ran off again and once again towards a busy street!! There was nothing we could do and we drove off in tears. I was so worried about her and worried about her puppies that were probably missing their mommy, but I just didn't know what else to do. It was a horrible feeling.

Later on last night I started thinking about the situation again and I realized that this dog's behavior is similar to our own behavior sometimes. When God tries to lead us in the right direction, we run off and try to do things all on our own. We think we don't need Him, that we can take care of ourselves. And sometimes we are so afraid of how much we do need Him that we just don't want to admit it and we run and hide! But when we choose to ignore God or to run away from Him, all we are doing is running into traffic ourselves! We need Him to protect us from the "traffic" that we run into! We need His protection and His love and His grace!

Thank you, Lord, for being our protector! Thank you for watching out over us. Help us not to run from you, Lord, but to run TO you!


You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7