Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast: Episode 153
TRANSCRIPT
What does it mean when we say that God is my protector? Does it mean that nothing that we consider as bad will ever happen to me? Does it mean that God is going to put this invisible force field around me that is going to shield me from difficulties and trials? Come along with me on this week’s Hope Healing and Freedom podcast as we look at what the bible says about God’s protection. I believe it will bring you greater peace and confidence in the goodness of Father God.
I’m Lee Whitman from Restoring the Foundations and I welcome you into this Hope Healing and Freedom podcast. Several weeks ago, we were ministering to a lady who had suffered a vast amount of trauma in her life. From birth the one constant in her life was trauma and abuse at the hands of those who should be her protectors. During ministry we address Ungodly Beliefs, which are lies that people believe usually based on real life experiences. This lady had an Ungodly Belief that no matter what she did, she was never going to be safe. This belief came out of her life experiences. As part of the ministry, we lead them to renounce and break agreement with the lie, then ask Father God for His truth. She heard God say that He is her protector. The problem was that she added to what she heard God say to come up with the statement that God is going to protect her from all harm. I believe that is what she wanted to believe because of her past. I don’t believe that is what God had actually said to her. What God actually said to her was that He is her protector, and she assumed that would keep her from all harm. I didn’t like having to rain on her parade, so to speak, but I had to tell her that I don’t think that is biblically accurate. God being our protector does not mean that bad things will never happen to us. To believe that would be setting this sweet lady up for more disappointment. Let’s look at what God does say about being our protector.
One of Cindi and my favorite passages is Isaiah 43:1-3. Let me quote it and then talk about it. “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;” There is so much in this passage. First it starts out by affirming that God has redeemed us. In fact, He has called us by name. I don’t know of anything better than knowing that we are redeemed from our old life, and that Father God knows us so well that He knows our name. Not long after Cindi and I were married, we were attending a church service in Lubbock, Texas conducted by Cind’s uncle Morris Sheats. He is a very well-known pastor in west Texas and at the time was pastoring a very large church. During the service he wanted to recognize his family members who were in attendance. He went down the row and introduced his brother and his sister-in-law, Cindi’s dad and mom, then he introduced my wife Cindi, who is his niece. Then he came to me and said, “And this is my niece Cindi’s husband ……. what’s his name.” For several years following that my name was what’s his name at the family gatherings.
The cool part about God is He knows your name and says that you belong to Him. The next part of this verse is very important. It does not say that God is going to protect us from the deep waters or from the fires, but that He is going to be with us through the deep waters and through the fires of life. It is a mistake to assume that God is going to “protect” us so that we avoid all of the bad situations in life. When we believe that, we are setting ourselves up for struggle when bad things do happen. Cindi went through three major surgeries last year, and I had a major surgery to have a cochlear implant installed. If we had believed that God was going to protect us from having to go through those events, we would have been very disappointed and discouraged. But we knew that God did not promise to keep us from the deep waters and the fires of life, but that He promised to go with us through those events. And He did. We can look back through each one of those events and we knew that God was with us giving us the strength to go through them.
So, what does the bible say about God’s protection? Deuteronomy 31:6 – “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” One of the most common themes about God’s protection in the bible are verses like this one from Deuteronomy. It says, “Do not fear”. Why? Because God will go with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. There are too many stories to list of soldiers being in battle and the thing that gave them courage and strength in the face of overwhelming odds was the knowledge that their brothers in arms were going with them. We have something even better. We have the knowledge that the Lord our God is going with us and that He will NEVER leave us or forsake us. John 8:32 says “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” This verse says to be strong and courageous. My belief is that you have to know the truth that God will never leave you or forsake you before you can be strong and courageous. Your strength and courage are based on knowing the truth that God goes with you everywhere you go. Does He keep you from all harm? I don’t think He does, but He goes with you through whatever you have to face today.
Psalms 34:19 says “The afflictions of the righteous are many, But the Lord rescues him from them all.” Hey, Lee. You are not being very encouraging with verses like this one. Yes, I am. I am encouraging you with reality. I am speaking the truth, and the truth will set you free. This verse says the afflictions of the righteous are many. God doesn’t play a bait and switch on you; He tells you the truth up front. I don’t know about you, but I hate it when I talk to a salesperson from like the cable TV company and they tell you that the total price is going to be $75 per month. Then when you try to sign up for the $75 a month plan there are all these other costs added on top of the standard fee. You end up with a price more like $110 a month instead of $75. That is a bait and switch. God does not do that with His children. He says right here that the afflictions of the righteous are many. Then He says the best part: “But the Lord rescues him from them all!”
2 Corinthians 4:7-10 says “But we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed;always carrying around in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” Why did God put His Spirit in these earthen vessels? So that the power of God would be displayed through us. Then it would be obvious that the power that we live by is not from us, but from God living in us. Notice how Paul describes the Christian life? “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned’ struck down, but not destroyed.” I have never seen that on a Christian poster. Come to Jesus and you will be afflicted, and crushed, and perplexed, and persecuted, and abandoned. Those don’t sell very well. But the next part is why those kinds of afflictions are so valuable. We are always carrying around in our bodies the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in us. So instead of God “protecting us” by causing us to avoid all negative things, He has something even better in mind. He wants to use those negative things to form the life of Jesus in us. God does not allow the affliction, and being crushed, and persecution, and being abandoned to punish us. No, He allows those things into our life to bless us. He uses them to kill off our old sinful nature and the life we try to live out of that nature, so that the life of Christ can be formed more and more in us. When we begin to face every trial and struggle by asking, “How are you using this situation to form more of the image of Christ in me?” we are going to sense and understand the protection of God.
Like all good sermons you have to have three points and a poem, right? Well, here you go.
Point 1 – God never said we would not go through deep waters.
Point 2 – He did say that He would go with us through the deep waters.
Point 3 – He promises to use the deep waters in life to form us more and more into the image of Christ.
Now for the poem. I could not think of a better poem than Psalms 91.
One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will lodge in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
For it is He who rescues you from the net of the trapper
And from the deadly plague.
He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may take refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and wall.
You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
Of the plague that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that devastates at noon.
A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
You will only look on with your eyes
And see the retaliation against the wicked.
For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
The Most High, your dwelling place.
No evil will happen to you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.
For He will give His angels orders concerning you,
To protect you in all your ways.
On their hands they will lift you up,
So that you do not strike your foot against a stone.
You will walk upon the lion and cobra,
You will trample the young lion and the serpent.
“Because he has loved Me, I will save him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
I will satisfy him with a long life,
And show him My salvation.”
PRAYER
Father, I am so glad that we can trust you to go with us through all the twists and turns of life. You said you will never leave us or forsake us. Knowing that You are going with us gives us the strength and courage to face whatever comes our way with confidence and hope. Would You reveal anything that is getting in the way of us being able to trust you completely even when our circumstances don’t look the way we want them to look. Help us trust you no matter what we see. I declare that you are a Good Good Father!
I wanted to let you know that our good friend and resident RTF Jewish Rabbi Ira and Gloria Brawer were interviewed on Sid Roths It’s Supernatural TV show recently. You can find the interview on YouTube (and embedded below). The title on Sid Roths channel is Ira Brawer Interview. It is a great story of how Ira went from hippie, to drug dealer, to Messianic Rabbi. Only God can do something like that. Check it out.
