My Protector

Last night after prayer meeting, I stayed at the church to work on the bulletin board for a while. I got home around 9:30 p.m. and started a load of laundry then changed in to my night clothes and was just starting to kick back for the evening when my daughter called and asked me if my husband was still at work. I told her yes. She then said that she thought he was upstairs in the apartment above her painting because someone was up there banging and making a lot of noise. So I put on my house robe and got the keys to the empty apartment and headed that way. In the meantime my son was taking his trash out and he also heard the banging. He lives in the apartment next to my daughter and he met me at the foot of the stairs. As I rounded the corner I could also hear the banging and it was loud. It sounded like someone was taking a sledge hammer to the place.

I went up the stairs and my son said "Mom, you better let me go in first." No Problem!!! I unlocked the door and stepped aside and in he went. I stepped in behind him and BAM!! I just about jumped out of my skin. The sound had come from the hallway so my son took off down the hall like a flash of lightening and I wanted to dash out the front door and back down the stairs. Mark was totally prepared for what ever or who ever it was. He was trained for this. He was the commander of the C.E.R.T. Team when stationed over seas so all his training kicked in and he automatically went into high gear and attack mode. At the same time we both realized all the windows in the apartment were open and knew right away what it was that was making all the noise. My husband had been painting and had taken the door knobs off of the doors. The wind was blowing outside and with the windows open it was blowing the bedroom door open and closed. Slamming is more like it. Two of the bedroom doors were blocked open but the one bedroom door was free to slam back and forth as the wind would blow in through the windows. What a noise it made in that empty apartment. When we realized what it was we had a good laugh.

My son's girlfriend asked him when we came back out and down the stairs how he intended to fight the attacker off if there had been one since he wasn't armed. He replied that he was armed and ready. I never saw it because he moved so fast, but as he went down the hall he grabbed a large putty knife. He said he saw it out of the corner of his eye as he was going down the hall and grabbed it. He was prepared for whatever was to come. I guess you could say he was ready in season and out of season. Who would have ever guessed that the little baby boy that I once held in my arms and protected for many years would one day grow up to become my protector. It really blows my mind how the tables have turned.

When my son suggested that I let him go into that apartment first to face any danger that might be lurking there so he could protect me, I realized that is how it is with the Lord. He goes before us everywhere we go. He is leading us and guiding us and ready to do battle on our behalf against anything that comes our way to try to harm us. God is our protector.

Psalms 91: (1) He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. (2) I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!" (3) For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper, And from the deadly pestilence. (4) He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. (5) You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; (6) Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. (7) A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not approach you. (8) You will only look on with your eyes, And see the recompense of the wicked. (9) For you have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. (10) No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. (11) For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. (12) They will bear you up in their hands, Lest you strike your foot against a stone. (13) You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down. (14) "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. (15) "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him. (16) "With a long life I will satisfy him, And let him behold My salvation."