Do you have to see God to believe in His protection?

Even when God is invisible, He is guarding you.

What We Don’t See

I was at the kitchen sink washing dishes Thursday night. My right foot was hurting a little.

I looked down at my white sock. It now had a red spot. It was blood.

This week we’re reading and memorizing Psalm 91:11-12.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

I hadn’t struck my foot against a stone, but minutes earlier, a weird thing had happened. It explained the bleeding.

Sometimes we see things and then we understand.

But other times we’re asked to understand even without seeing.

It’s harder that direction.

It’s easier to believe in God when we see Him in action. When we don’t see Him, we can doubt He’s around. Or that He cares. Or even that He’s real.

And His angels? We can doubt that level of protection, too. Maybe this isn’t meant for us?

Maybe Psalm 91:11-12 was only meant for Jesus? Satan did bring it up to Jesus in the wilderness temptations. In the second temptation, Satan said to Jesus,

If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you,” and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”
Matthew 4:6

But just as Jesus answered, “Don’t put God to the test,” we, too, don’t need to challenge God to prove Himself to us.

So how do we respond to these truths in Psalm 91?

Believe Without Seeing

We believe in invisible things all the time. The current coronavirus pandemic is the perfect example. The majority of us will never see the virus with our own eyes, but we know it’s real.

We take it seriously because we see its results.

The same with God. Even though we don’t see God face to face, we often see His works. In our attitudes, in our relationships, in our circumstances, in nature, in His Word.

Our protection may be invisible, but that doesn’t make it less real.

Maybe you’ve never seen an angel as promised in Psalm 91:11 (or maybe you have?). (Read more about angels here: Psalm 34:7; Psalm 103:20; Hebrews 1:14.)

We read that angels did come to Jesus after the temptations and ministered to Him. Just as an angel had come to Joseph, warning him to flee with baby Jesus from Herod. And just as angels later attended to Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane.

If God commands angels to protect His children, we don’t have see it to believe it. It is true.

• We can rest securely in God’s shadow (Psalm 91:1).
• We no longer have to fear the terror of the night (Psalm 91:5).
• We are safe in our dwelling place in Him (Psalm 91:9).

Rest in God’s Protection

I stopped doing the dishes and pulled off my sock. The tiny red spot confirmed I’d taken a direct hit. Earlier, I had opened the dishwasher door and a steak knife fell out, tip down, on the top of my foot before landing on the floor.

It was a very minor injury from an accident that could have been much worse. I thought of Psalm 91 and thanked God for His unseen protection. He doesn’t always stop the catastrophe from happening to us in the physical realm. But this time I was spared.

Even when we can’t see God, He sees us. We are always on His mind and always in His works.

Maybe you’ve not seen God’s protection in the way you think it should happen, but rest assured of this truth: God is for you and God is with you. He commands His angels to guard you.

Find peace in your present and assurance for your future.

About things seen.

And things unseen.

How has God protected you? Where have you seen signs of His guards? Please share in the comments.

See all the Psalm 91 posts here

Will what worked for them, work for us? They made God their dwelling place. His protection rippled out.

Read Psalm 91 with us. This week we’re memorizing Psalm 91:9-10.

Things seem opposite. It feels counterintuitive.

Instead of going to our friends and loved ones to show we care, we’re being asked to stay away. Especially stay away from those in high-risk categories for the coronavirus.

We don’t know who wrote Psalm 91 or the circumstances behind it, but we do know the people in those times faced plagues and pestilences more often than we have. What’s new to us, wasn’t new to them.

They were likely worried for their family members as well. They didn’t want to see loved ones die. They didn’t want to be unprotected themselves.

So what did they do?

Here’s their advice.

Make the Lord your dwelling place.

What worked for them in the past still works for us in the present.

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
Psalm 91:9-10

By trusting in God as our refuge, we not only are protecting ourselves, we’re also protecting those “near our tent.”

God’s protection ripples out.

When you stay close to God, others around you also benefit by His shade.

It’s a protection plan for the family.

Intentionally keep choosing to dwell in God’s shelter.

We may still fumble, take wrong turns, endure suffering, and face hard circumstances, but no ultimate evil can overcome us inside God’s care.

Has the godly choice of others been a ripple effect in your life? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Don’t let the numbers scare you. Despite the many, remember that you are the one being protected by the One.

Continue reading with us in Psalm 91.

Fear of Numbers

Maybe you’ve been on a physical battlefield in a foreign country. Or maybe like me you’ve only seen it pictured on the big screen or in photos in books.

Devastation has hit. Bodies are everywhere. Too many to count.

I think of the hospital scenes in New York this month. I look at the COVID-19 statistics today. The numbers are frightening.

• Are there more or less cases today than yesterday?
• How many have died now?
• Where is the latest hot spot?

The economic numbers are also discouraging. Unemployment is up. Stock markets are down. Bank accounts are dwindling.

Read Psalm 91:7-8. What image does it conjure up for you? Does it remind you of the world now?

7  A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8  You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.

Suffering is a universal experience, in all places, in any year. As believers in Christ, we aren’t immune from suffering.

So what does the psalmist mean when he says that it won’t come near us?

Remember the One

While our bodies are just as susceptible to destruction as any other, our souls are not as susceptible. They are protected.

Our immunity doesn’t rest in the physical (although God can still perform miracles there also). Our advantage comes in the peace of God’s presence in us and around us.

God knows the numbers. He counts each one as valuable. Including you.

He sees you as His important one, and you can count on Him as the One for shelter.

God is the God of one-on-one.

Never Alone

As tens of thousands get COVID-19, we hear of patients dying alone in the hospital. We may fear that for ourselves or for those we love.

But we need to remember we are never alone.

God is our go-between.

Suffering may feel close, but God is always closer.

He sandwiches Himself between us and our sufferings. He won’t leave us alone on the battlefield. He cushions us when we go down and lifts us back up to new life again.

As you follow along in Psalm 91 with us (and memorize, too), be comforted this week of this: even among thousands and tens of thousands that fall around you, God hasn’t forgotten about you. He still counts every hair on your head. He will never abandon you to destruction.

In Christ, we remain more than conquerors. On this battlefield or on any other. Nothing can pull us away from Him (Romans 8:31-39).

He is God, and there is no other. He is God, and there is none like Him (Isaiah 46:9).

The main number we need to watch? The One.

Also read Jennifer’s post, “Never Alone”

See all our posts here on Psalm 91.

• How to Shelter-in-Place in God With the 9-1-1 of Psalms {Psalm 91:1-2}
• Don’t Take the Fear Bait—Much to Lose, But More to Gain {Psalm 91:3-4}
• Vulnerable or Safe? Both {Psalm 91:5-6}

How are the numbers in your state? Has the curve flattened? How are you keeping your eyes focused on the One? Please share in the comments.

Being exposed to a global pandemic is uncomfortable. We are indeed vulnerable.

Yet we are also totally safe.

We Are Vulnerable

Is anybody else waking up more in the middle of the night?

And when you do, where do your thoughts go? Honestly, my first thoughts are: we’re still in a pandemic.

We feel vulnerable in this season because…we ARE vulnerable. Many things are out of our control. We feel exposed. To viruses. To relationship troubles. To economic collapse.

The psalmist makes this list of threats in Psalm 91:5-6:

• terrors of the night
• arrows that fly by day
• pestilence that stalks in darkness
• destruction that wastes at noonday

Those aren’t the words we’d use today, but we recognize the categories of fear nonetheless. By day and by night, we understand our fragility, regardless of how many times we wash our hands or keep our distance or eye our checking account.

That is the bad news.

Yet We Are Safe

But God is Lord of the good news.

And the good news is that even though we are vulnerable—yes, we are susceptible to arrows and viruses alike—we are protected from their ultimate destruction.

For us, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21).

We can trust God’s protection in the moment, and we also can trust God’s protection for the future. Not protection from hard things hitting us, but protection from ultimate defeat by them.

Fear sets in when we think we have to provide our own protection. And we know we can’t.

Peace returns when we remember that God is the true protector. It’s His faithfulness that is our shield (Psalm 91:4).

Even when we don’t see God at work or don’t feel Him moving or even don’t fully believe His protection, God is at work on our behalf. Nothing has caught Him off guard.

It is God’s grace that will save us, not our own tactics or safeguards.

As you go through your week and if you wake up in the middle of the night, pray the words of Psalm 91 again and again.

• To calm yourself down.
• To build your trust up.
• To depend on God more.

Trade in your fears for God’s faithfulness.

We have a safe place in Jesus, despite our vulnerability in the world.

Ultimately, vulnerability isn’t our weakness. It’s our opportunity—to run to safe refuge in God.

It’s in God’s shelter that we are finally safe.

How is your sleep this month? What makes you feel safe?

Share your thoughts here.