Some of you will remember I wrote about a prayer I whisper to God every time my kids leave the house to commute for school – I would quote this verse from Psalm 91, known as the “protection psalm”:
Psalms 91:11 (NIV)
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
I would ask the Lord for His protection, that He would command His angels to guard them in all their ways. An accident can happen while they ride a jeep to school or to the Church’s center. There are lots of holdups, pickpockets, snatchers and generally “bad” people in the streets today – who doesn’t need God’s protection today? Ever since my two oldest children started to commute by themselves I learned to quote and claim Psalm 91:11 for them. It was almost automatic. And every time they would come back home safely I would bring a prayer of thanks to the Lord.
There was one moment where I said that prayer in a different light. I remember when my daughter left for Singapore for her On the Job Training. It was going to be the longest she would be away from the family, on her own, in another country! Mixed feelings fill your heart as a parent. You’re so used to being the one taking care of them, at the same time you know that you can only depend on God for their care and protection. She was leaving for Manila the same day that I and my wife were leaving for Cebu, and they were on the early morning flight and so I could not take her to the airport. So I dropped her in their school where a bus was waiting for them to take the group of students to the airport.
It was around 4:30 in the morning, we said our goodbyes, hugged each other, and she climbed up the bus. As she walked away my mind automatically prayed and claimed the promise of the Lord in Psalm 91 - “charge your angels to guard her in all her ways”. It was then that I realized – she was venturing into a bigger, riskier situation – she wasn’t just riding a jeep, she was going to ride a plane. She wasn’t just going to be a few minutes away, she was going to another country. And I wasn’t going to see her physically again until after six months.
But I realized I had the same God, with the same promise – that He would charge His angels concerning her to guard her in all her ways! And that brought a smile and assurance to my heart. No matter where my children are, no matter what situation they’re in, God remains the same, His promises are the same! It was trusting the same God, claiming the same promise, for a greater, more complicated situation – but it brought the same assurance. Circumstances may change, but our God remains the same, and His promises are effective no matter what we are facing.
I’m reminded of how David had confidence in facing Goliath:
1 Samuel 17:34-37 (NIV)
34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,
35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.
36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
It didn’t matter if it was a lion, a bear, or a 9 foot giant named Goliath, David’s trust was in the same God – the Lord who delivered him from “smaller” situations was the same God who would deliver him from Goliath.
We may be facing different situations, bigger problems, harder trials – but our God does not change, and His promises remain the same.
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