No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.~Psalm 91:10-11
The only requirement is that we take the time to know Him -- TRULY know Him, and love Him. Yet, there are people everywhere, everyday who will say, "Where is God in this!?"
Remember September 11, 2001? Remember the aftermath? Who couldn't?
I don't know about you, but my life ceased for days after 9/11 as I sat glued to the television as the surreal events unfolded. I choked up when the entire U.S. Congress sang "God Bless America," and when the Buckingham Palace Guard played the "Star-Spangled Banner," and when New York City Firefighters told tender yet agonizing stories of their fallen comrades, and when a solitary bagpiper played "Amazing Grace" in Union Square, and when thousands of Americans walked around dazed with crumpled photographs of their missing loved ones, and when Dan Rather had to be comforted by (of all people!) David Letterman. Remember these days?Do you also remember all the critical "news" pieces asking "WHERE WAS GOD?"
God does promise to take care of us, to keep us in safety, but He cannot do it if we walk off the path He provides. We must listen to what God teaches us in His Word. We need to follow Him in all things. It's only when we follow him that we can enjoy the blessings of His refuge and safe protection.
I am not going to judge, answer, or pretend to know the hearts of the thousands of lives lost and affected by the tragedy of 9/11. I could never do that. No human being ever could.
I am not going to even attempt to answer the question, "WHERE WAS GOD on 9/11?" There are plenty of far-more eloquent Christian writers and speakers who have already done that.
What I will do is look honestly at Scripture. How can the angels do other than what they have been ordered to do by God Himself. YES. . . He gives His angels charge over us, to keep us in all our ways, but the Lord also says,
If you love me and truly know who I am, I will rescue you and keep you safe
~ Psalm 91:14
Isn't that an awesome thought? God orders angels to watch over us, to keep us from harm. They actually hold us. And all that is required of us is that we love Him and truly know who HE is.
Sometimes I think we Christians expect God's protecting angels to do whatever we order them to do. We get so arrogant in our thinking sometimes that we really believe we are untouchable by the Enemy. We think we're wrapped in some spiritual cocoon of God's mercy and grace. God's Word does give conditions for His promises. Like it or not. Read it!
God's protection is not possible unless we are completely in line with His Word. The angels can only do those things that are right for us -- things that God has planned for our lives. If the angels were to go against God and listen to our commands, they would be cast out of heaven like one third of them were with Satan.
But what do the angels do if we are not in line with God? I cannot say for certain because I've never actually seen angels in action (CBS's Touched by an Angel does not count) but I imagine they have to stand back, watch what we're doing wrong, fold their arms and call out to God to be allowed to intervene on His behalf. God loves us! His angels love us. He provides the angels because He loves us and does not want to see us harmed.
Have you ever felt like this? . . . If only I had prayed about it first, we wouldn't be in this financial mess. If only I'd spent more time in God's Word, I wouldn't have been so critical. If only I'd listened to God, I wouldn't have had that accident. If only. . . if only . . . if only.
We all have twenty-twenty hindsight AFTERWARDS! Question is: Do we then seek God? Sometimes. Sometimes not. Why? Because the situation is over and we have to move on to something else. The something else becomes more important.
And that's where our lives (and our country) take the wrong turn and the mistakes gets bigger and bigger.
Consider the aftermath of 9/11 -- and the atmosphere of the country.
Consider the atmosphere of the country today. . . .
They asked WHERE WAS GOD on 9/11?
WHERE IS HE TODAY?
How about starting right now, right where you are.
Why not simply start reading God's Word and praying and listening to Him? When you do, the blessings flow and angels take hold of you. The angels are handling the situation.
Wow! That would be awesome!
In particular -- wouldn't it be awesome if the angels took over on November 4th!
~ Esthermay Bentley-Goossen
In Other Words @ Writing Canvas
12 comments:
Estermay, thank you for a lovingly thoughtful post today. Have a blessed day!
God is always here...but so is sin. sin in the world is the source of all that is bad, evil and cruel. my mom has a terminal illness. she was given 2 yrs to live 7 yrs ago. why doesn't God heal her? we must remember that He sometimes allows things for a greater good, for an example of how He can see us through, For all Glory to be given to Him. He will heal, in all cases. sometimes on this earth and sometimes in the life to come.
Esthermay,
Yes, you're right, we do ask a lot of "What if's". We do ask a lot of , "Where was God"...I do think the "What if's" are legit. I think God wants us to learn. When we ask, "Where was God", I think a better question would be, "Where was I?" Don't you think? We blame God when in reality, he has always been there - it's us who strays...
The beautiful thing is, when we look back at God, we realize, he never left...he was always there.
Thank you for sharing. It was very inspiring.
Lynnette
That is an awesome scripture you dug up in Psalm 91. I love knowing the Lord and I know where He's at, at all times... He's in my heart that's where we need him the most. Thanks for sharing today.
Thanks for sharing your heart on this topic, Esthermay. It shines brightly with the passion you have for our loving Savior. I loved the Scriptures you shared.
Thank you for the call to humility. Few people have ever truly seen angels in their glory. Those who did were deeply affected (like Daniel and Isaiah). We deal with a Holy God and His Holy angels, and we don't have a clue what's going on, so it's important to remember who's in charge (God) and who the angels answer to (God, not us).
Amen to your prayer for Nov. 4th!
The message of that verse really is an awesome thought, Esthermay! Thank you for illuminating it so beautifully.
The "What' if's" in my own life are a sad realization that I did fall victim to much false teaching in the church today. Thinking I could command God's angels to prosper me now without regard for God's ultimate plan for me and for all of eternity. How wrong. I think of Joel Osteen's whole ministry called ironically "Your Best Life NOW." How NON-Scriptural is that!
(This guy really bother's me.)
This life NOW is fleeting and momentary and full of pain. To focus on NOW instead of eterity is a total waste of time.
When we spend more time focussing on eternity, we'll have less "If only's" because we won't be looking back.
By the way, Joel O. would be okay if he did preach the Cross, but he doesn't.
Bless you for such a wonderful post.
Ohhhh, I loved your thoughts today on this. It's so full and rich. And I love how you ended it! Yes, indeed, if the angels could help push everyone's fingers for the right person! :) Thank you for sharing.
Oh! And the first picture you used with the angel and people - breathtaking! You have a beautiful, encouraging blog.
Let it be, Lord. I'm praying. I've had such an unsettled feeling, but just today, seem to have some peace about it all. Thanks for this timely and poignant message.
Thank you for your post on this. Is is so interesting to see how everyone responds to the verses differently. I enjoyed reading your post.
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