God Got There First!

-- "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; " Psalm 91:11 NIV

We would surely be amazed if we knew all the near misses we have with calamity. Once in awhile, sometimes twice in two days, we get a glimpse of the results of the unseen efforts of God and His angels to protect and guard us through the hazards of this life. Last Wednesday night, my mom in Canada was at her weekly Bible study with friends, expected home around 9:15. My daddy was happily watching a Gaither Homecoming video, and assumed the noise he heard outside about that time was the sound of her car driving up the long gravel driveway. He anticipated she would be in soon, but when she didn't come in the house, he went out to see what was keeping her. To his surprise, she wasn't even home yet. And then he saw it! His truck was missing!! As he looked around for clues, my mom drove up, much later than she ordinarily would be getting home. As we talked about those events the next morning, we all marveled at the protection of God that he kept both my parents out of the way while the crime was in progress! The loss of the truck is a real blow, and the sense of having their haven from the world violated is the hardest pill to swallow, but THEY ARE FINE!! UNHARMED!! SAFE!! With the evil of the world swirling around, too close for comfort, it did not come near them!! God got there first!! Shortly after I hung up the phone from that conversation, my 13-year-old daughter's school called to let me know she had taken a bad fall during her PE class. They thought she was basically okay and since She-So-Sweet, (tough cookie that she is) was INSISTING in no uncertain terms that she did NOT need me to come get her, I waited to pick her up until after school. When I got there, she could hardly bend one knee which had bled through layers of large bandaids and right through her jeans. The palms of both hands were badly skinned up with gravel still embedded in her wounds, and wrists too sore to carry her backpack. Mama-Bear decided a trip to the doctor was in order. We were so thankful to find out that our basketball-loving, violin-playing, lion-hearted "little girl" had no broken bones, and didn't need a cast on any of her aching appendages. Hard to believe all that was the result of a walking accident!!! Speed-walking that is. Her mile was cut short by running into a nasty trip-hazard that just launched her. So how did she wind up with a scrape on TOP of one wrist AND one shoulder??? In my mind's eye I can see an angel grabbing her as she fell, flipping her into a somersault to help break the full-force of the impact, preventing anything from breaking. Yes, she still has some healing to do, but so much less than it could have been. God got there first!! The world can be a scary place, and our fears can loom large. When God lets us see the evidence of His protection in these near-miss incidents, it is so comforting! We can go about our lives in confidence, trusting that God has our back. Of course we do what we can to be smart about managing the risks of this life, but we don't have to worry and live in fear that our safety is all on us. We are guarded and watched over by Almighty God and the host of angels who obey His every command concerning us!!

He ALWAYS gets there first!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ His watch is ever-vigilant. Never unaware. Already in our great unknown Before we meet Him there. He prepares the way before us, Shows His tender care, Sends trusted angels to shield us. Before we meet Him there.