Our Heavenly Bellhop?
Recently a missionary friend told me the horrific story of finding her husband murdered several years ago. They had worked in Papua, New Guinea, for about 20 years translating the New Testament for people who had never had any part of the Bible in their own language. On the Thursday of her husband's death, the family began the day happily, looking forward to completing on that very day the first draft of the translation. Just one more run-through with their native partner, and the work would be done. Hours later my friend found her husband mortally wounded before the computer, the words of First Corinthians 13 (the "love" chapter) showing on the screen before him. We struggle to reconcile such an event with scripture's many reassurances of God's care.
Does God promise to protect us? This missionary's story shows us that even those who give their entire life to God's work have no guarantee of safety. This is a difficult truth. We all want to believe that we are and will be safe. We want to believe that God will always protect us, those we love, all who believe and trust in the Lord.
Since my now-adult daughter was an infant, I have practiced the spiritual discipline of consciously committing her (and all those I love) to God, realizing that I cannot guarantee my own or another person's safety. Only God can always be there. Does this mean that God has shielded my daughter from all harm? Not at all. God does not promise that. Over and over, the Bible shows God not shielding people from difficulties and harm but staying with them during the storms life inevitably brings.
Some people say that being in God's care means we will have all that we need and much that we want. Some define abundant life (see John 10:10) as abundant possessions and success in all we attempt. They expect God to protect those they love and "claim" God's power for their business to succeed or to get their children into the right college or away from drugs. They pray for a good parking space or to find the right garment when they shop. Such theology makes God into little more than a heavenly bellhop, someone who can help us with our baggage and in general make life easier for us. This is not to say that we are wrong to come to God with our concerns about daily life. After all, Jesus taught us to pray for "our daily bread." God is concerned with all that concerns us. But this does not mean we will have what we want or that nothing bad will happen to us.
After every disaster, television news reporters interview survivors. I flinch when, as almost always happens, people say they were spared because God was watching out for them. Extending this way of thinking would mean that others did not pray or that God was not watching out for those who were killed or who lost homes, businesses, and family members. And yet we also say that our loving God was and is there, with each one of them, weeping with those who were terrified and holding those who were injured as they died.
So what shall we do? Is it wrong to pray for God to protect us and those we love? Of course not. Matthew tells us that God knows the number of hairs on our head (Matt. 10:30), so we know that God is concerned about the details of our life. We can trust that God is always with us and will never leave us or forsake us. God is our faithful friend, and God does not want harm to come to anyone. But we live in a world where danger and loss are real. If a believer jumps off of a building, God does not suspend the law of gravity; if a bus is speeding toward us, God does not change the laws of physics to stop the bus or alter its course. Nevertheless, the one called our refuge and our shield, our rock, our light, our salvation, never leaves us to face the dangers of the world alone. God is with us in every storm, faithful and close, regardless of what happens to us. Sometimes we are safe, and sometimes we suffer great harm. Either way, we are in God's unfailing care.
Several meditations in this issue address the subject of God's protection and presence with us. You may want to read again the meditations for July 3, 11, 15, 21, 26, and 28 and August 7, 15, 16, 20, 25, 27, and 30 as you respond to the reflection questions below.
Questions for Reflection:
- Do you agree that we are not guaranteed safety because we follow God? How would you respond to someone who credits God with helping them to avoid an accident or with saving a loved one from harm?
- How do you usually respond when bad things happen to good people? What does the Bible have to say about these situations?
- When and how has God's protecting presence been real for you? In what sense does God always protect believers?
- Have you brought to mind and prayed a specific verse from scripture in a time of intense struggle? What Bible verses help you in such times?
- Which images of God from scripture (God as rock, salvation, light, refuge, fortress, etc.) hold special meaning for you? What does each of your favorites say to you about how God is present in your life?
- Mary Lou Redding
From The Upper Room daily devotional guide, July/August 2009. Copyright © 2009 The Upper Room. All Rights Reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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