Witness Protection

There have been times in my life when I wished I could be in the Witness Protection Program.  Ok, well, maybe not the part where someone would be trying to kill me, however, protection from enemies would still be good.  It sounded great – a new name, a new identity, a new place to live. Getting to leave the past completely behind.   No one would know me so they couldn’t possibly remember all the mistakes I’ve made.  A new life.

God invites us into a very special place.  He calls it the Secret Place.  You may be familiar with Psalm 91:1 “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”  (KJV)  Check out how it’s written in the Amplified Bible:  “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty – Whose power no foe can withstand.”  That sounds wonderful, and the remaining scriptures in this one chapter contain some pretty amazing promises too:

Protection from enemies, protection from disease, protection from evil, no fear of darkness or what people can do to us, deliverance when we need it, angels watching over us, and more.

WOW!  I want it.  All.  But the key to having all these promises truly fulfilled in our lives is in verse 1, one word:  dwell.   Dwell – to live or stay as a permanent resident.  It doesn’t say “he who visits the secret place….”  Let’s be honest, many days we visit this secret place with God, ask for all the protection, deliverance, and blessing we want for the day, and then go on our merry way without giving Him much more thought for that day.

This is an IF/THEN.  If we will dwell, then He will protect and deliver and help and….    Many a time I’ve cried out to God in frustration because I didn’t feel He was helping me, only to be reminded that it had been a while since I’d spent any time with Him, strengthening my faith, relying on Him.  Not that He didn’t still come to my aid, but He wanted me to be in a different position before trouble ever showed up.  In His shadow.  Under His wings.  Stable and fixed so that trouble doesn’t send me into a frenzy.

He longs for us to live in this place, never leaving.  How is that possible?  First of all, let’s think about how we behave when we are hidden in a secret place – we’re usually quiet.  We must have some quiet time with Him.  This is how we get to know Him, what He’s like, who the word says He is.  Then we must make that conscious effort to think on Him throughout the day – ask Him what He thinks, ask Him for help, thank Him for even the smallest things in our lives, praise Him for just being God.

There is a place to live in freedom from fear no matter what the circumstances around us are like.  Hidden in the secret place. That mobster (the devil) that’s out to destroy us?  He can’t get to us.  All the mistakes we’ve made?  Thrown as far as the east is from the west and remembered no more!  New geography?  He transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.  And that new identity?  Jesus bought that for us with His life – we are the children of the Most High God – nobody can stand up against our Dad!!