Protector

​Meditation
Psalm 121—I raise my eyes toward the mountains.  Where will my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.  He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber . . . The LORD protects you; the LORD is a shelter right by your side . . . The LORD will protect you from all harm; He will protect your life.  The LORD will protect your coming and going both now and forever. 
 

They live in the hills and the valleys surrounding Malacatan.  Orphans, children with only a mother, or some with parents too poor to provide adequate food and clothing.  Juan Carlos and Nivea already care for 14 youngsters in our children’s home but that does not account for the ones they cannot help still waiting to receive assistance.
​
“My help comes from the Lord.”  Boys and girls learn firsthand from Juan that God loves them and it is life changing to come to a personal relationship with the Protector. They learn that God hears and answers prayers.   God is our protector.  When He is the One we turn to there is no problem that cannot be overcome.

• “He will not allow your foot to slip.”  That’s easy to believe for us who have shoes and the most treacherous place we walk is between curbs.  But it is not just literal tripping God may spare us but also falling down in life.  What about those times when all the Tilapia die in their pond because of contaminated water?  When the chicks perish because they got wet and now a second source of income is gone, what does Juan do?   He prays and He trusts that God means what He says.  Never underestimate the creativity or power of God in getting us back on solid footing.
• “The LORD protects you; the LORD is a shelter right by your side.”  When prayers are uttered each day and night they do not vanish into the humid Guatemalan sky, they are heard by the Preserver who lives in the midst of chaos.  He makes His presence known by touching hearts and healing wounds. Today, the Lord is right by our side sheltering us.  His omnipresence is more than comforting, it is life sustaining.
• “The Lord will protect you from all harm.”  There are those times when God allows no evil or disaster to befall His children.  We pray and God brings instant and complete deliverance.  But some of us know and carry deeply the marks of hurt.  How do we learn to trust our Father when bad things happen?  The reality of valley dwelling is suffering and death but the Maker of mountains brings life beyond evil, disease and disaster.  Harm is averted, harm is absorbed, but ultimately harm is destroyed by the Deliverer who forever banishes sin, sickness, and death. 
• “He will protect your life . . . your coming and going both now and forever.”  Beware of blaming God for the loss of transient things.  It is not what is passing and will burn that God guards.  It is the security of our lives for eternal fellowship the Creator sustains.    

“I raise my eyes towards the mountains.”  In the shadow of a great volcano, the kids at Casa De Niño’s are learning much about their Keeper.  We valley dwellers would do well to look up more often.  Our Preserver and Protector, Yahweh, is mighty.  
 
©2011 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)