I Will Protect You!

No weapon that is formed against thee will prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. Isaiah 54:17

The promise in Isaiah 54:17 may seem like a contradiction to anyone that has actually had a weapon formed against them by someone that may be trying to rob or kill them. Elizabeth Elliot along with  and her husband Jim were missionaries back in the 50s when he  and four friends were tragically speared to death while trying to evangelize the Auca people, a tribe in Amazonian Ecuador. https://www.imb.org/2019/04/01/missionary-legacy-jim-elisabeth-elliot/

Much closer to me, was my great-great aunt Mildred who was killed by a teenage boy who went to rob her as she stood at a bus stop waiting for a bus, and when she resisted, he shot her at point blank range and killed her, back in 1990 in Indiana. She was a Christian, had attended church all of her life and played the organ in at least one church that she attended.

Especially when some one has served God like these people had, why does he let these things happen? 

If God says that no weapons formed against us will prosper, how is it that these and many other Christians even now are slaughtered for the name of Christ?

Is God really serious or is he just playing a cruel joke on us? And if not, then what does that scripture really mean?

We know that there are weapons that our adversary the devil wants people to use. The physical weapons of war, of course are some. And perhaps as Christians we don't use those kinds of weapons against each other. At least we hope not.

However, the weapons within the Christians Church/Community is that of our tongues. 

But first, speaking about the weapons used in war, or terrorism etc, we hear everyday of someone being named or killed by them. For those of us that believe the bible and are accosted by someone wanting to do us harm, why doesn't God just zap him dead, or at least render his weapons useless?

And then for those of us that gossip and judge others, that is just as bad as if we would use a weapon against them, because sin is sin. And there is no difference to God in what sin we are committing. But he promises that those people who are the recipients of the judgment of others, they will be vindicated.

We don't know why God does or does not do what we think he should do. But there are always reasons because he has the whole picture in everything and we don't. If he was going to just protect us all from bad things, he would have done that for his followers that were with him throughout his ministry on earth. Instead, his own disciples were beheaded and/or hung on a cross. 

Just because we are saved by his grace from eternal judgement, does not mean that we are saved from even some of the horrors we might face in life. 

Our hope though is contained in the scriptures throughout the bible that tell us to not be afraid, that he is our strength, that when we are weak we are made strong through him. And Iasiah 43;1-3 tells us not to be afraid, that he has ransomed us and called us by name. 

It is not important what happens to our physical bodies as it is the spiritual part of us, that is important. What can man do to us? Plenty to our physical. But nothing to our spiritual. That is the part that no one can touch. Only God if we have asked him to be our Savior. And if we have done that, there is no real cause for us to be afraid. Even in the face of death, we know where we are going. And it is God's love note to us, that keeps us protected until we meet him on that side of our lives.

Thanks for coming by Friends. I appreciate your patience with me. Take care and God bless!