Protective Custody

Have y’all ever seen the movies where some poor, ordinary, every day, Joe Schmoe inadvertently sees a mob boss or big-time criminal commit a crime, and is subsequently called to testify at trial? Then the poor sap has to be put in protective custody, and / or be put into the Witness Protection Program to protect them until the trial, (and sometimes even after the trial) because the mob has put a hit out on them? I know, you are thinking, “Girlie, you watch too much TV,” which is probably true, but y’all have seen these shows, right? I have seen this scenario in movies and TV shows all the way back from Starsky and Hutch, and Magnum PI, (I’m tellin’ my age, aren’t I?) to Hawaii Five-O and Blue Bloods.

You know, God has protective custody. In Hosea, God put a hedge of protection around Gomer. He hedged her in to keep her from the sin that she would walk out and get into willingly. But a hedge works two ways, the hedge keeps us from getting any farther away from where we are supposed to be, but it also keeps us safe from anything that might come in after us.

And just like the movies or TV, when you have put yourself in the protective custody of the Lord, the bombs may be going off all around you. There may be car chases and bullets and fiery darts of the enemy whizzing by your head. Maybe bullets are even lodging into the couch where you are trying to rest. (“Whew! That was a close one! That situation got a little HOT before we got out!) But the truth is, the Lord preserves us. Even when it seems like He has forgotten, or when it feels like maybe He has turned His attention elsewhere. The Word says that YOU are the apple of His eye! (Psalm 17:8, Zechariah 2:8) The Word says the He has engraved us on the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:10), and even knows the number of hairs on your head. (Luke 12:7) So the reality is that even though we may be feeling the heat, and hearing the explosions around us – even though sometimes the enemy has brought the fight to your living room and you are ducking behind the couch – He keeps us in the palm of His hand. The enemy knows when He can’t destroy you, he can DISTRACT you, so the attacks keep coming. (If you are like me, sometimes you feel like you are gettin’ pretty good at those “tuck and roll” maneuvers.) If the enemy can keep you away from the task at hand, away from your God-given purpose, then he will call that a win. If he can cause you to jump and worry and be distraught because of the smoke bombs and fiery darts he keeps lobbing at you, then he has done his job well enough.

There are times when we have to remember (as the saying goes) not just WHO we are, but WHOSE we are, get up from our hiding place behind the couch, and refuse to be intimidated by the attacks. We must remind ourselves that He holds us in the palm of his hand and get busy with what He has called us to do. YOU have a purpose. YOU have a calling. (And BTW, that doesn’t only apply to young people. MANY men and women in the Bible did amazing things for God in their latter years.) Be like Joshua who the Bible says left NOTHING undone that God had commanded him, and know that He is (Psalm 46:1) our refuge, strength, and ever-present help in times of trouble. Let the enemy roar and rage if he wants to, because you are in God’s protective custody.

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