Permission to Pause! Episode 5: Pause in God’s Protective Love
Greeting’s friend, I hope you have checked out my new podcast PERMISSION TO PAUSE on your favorite podcast platform. I am sharing the content each week here on the blog but if you love to listen to podcast while walking, doing chores, or running errands–I think you will love it!!
Either way–I hope you will PAUSE, breathe and be with Jesus while we talk about God’s Protective Love!! Let’s take a deep breath, get still in your heart, and let’s share a little life story — a truth from God‘s Word and a simple prayer.
John 17:15
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
The other day I stepped off my back deck right onto the path of a huge snake. We had seen this critter in our yard before. My husband who is a snake lover, picked up that 4 feet of demonic slither and hurled him over the fence. I wanted him to chop his head off but NO he said, he was a “good snake”. In my opinion, there’s no such thing as a “good snake”. I had a gut feeling that if he just pitched him aside that low belly demon would be back—and sure enough here he was. I was furious with my husband for not killing him before.
The snake at my feet had obviously just eaten something or somebody and was moving very slowly to get out of my way. I ran to get my husband and by the time I got back I watched that disgusting creature slither between the bricks on the bottom of our house right into our crawl space.
Oh my gosh!
We will never get rid of that nasty thing!
I’ve always wondered why in Genesis 3 God allowed that serpent to go free. Here we are again, and in John 17 we hear Jesus ask God not to take us out of the world of snakes, but to protect us.
Fear is my weak spot.
It is the place the enemy attacks me the most.
If I’m not intentional to stay in God‘s Word and keep His promises in my heart, mind, and mouth, fear will slip in like a quick snake.
One place that fear shows up for me is on airplanes. I have always been afraid to fly. I’ve been known to actually walk away from a boarding gate and decide to drive to my destination rather than fly. In fact, back in episode 3 I shared about one of those un- planned drives when I ended up following a bunch of nuns to a moment of SELAH in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Anyway—I digress. :))
Once I surrendered my life to the Lord, He immediately called me into a ministry of sharing my story across the nation. And guess what? That meant flying on lots of airplanes. I decided way back then not to let fear control me and that I would just fly afraid. I have done that for the past 30 years.Through every single flight God has always shown up—through my seat mate, some special favor, or through my worship music and prayer time during flights. There have been many times that my flights have been smooth and gentle—I’ve had peace from takeoff to landing. But there have been other times when a bumpy ride caused tears to run down my cheeks the entire flight. I remember one particular time through a bumpy flight. I was sitting in a window seat and as the plane began to land, I looked out the window with the tears running down my cheeks to see a field of sunflowers, my favorite flower, in full bloom waiting for us to land.
God doesn’t always remove us out of our troubles or even out of our fears, but he always protects us, and He always shows up.
Does fear have a grip on you today friend?
Are you struggling to trust God to protect you from evil that is slithering around your life right now?
Maybe it’s not even in your inner world but the potential to be afraid is surely in the outer world. The news channels remind us daily that we have an enemy.
Let’s agree with Jesus today.
In this quiet pause.
Let’s ask God for the same protection that Jesus prayed for in our personal world in our outer world.
John 17:15
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
Lord, thank you that you are a great defender and protector. You are able no matter what enemy I am facing today. Near or far you are with me. You have the final word over my life. Nothing can snatch me out of your hand. Amen.
Thank you friend for joining me for Permission to Pause. I hope you will jump over to my Facebook page or to my SHOP here on the website, download that free study and join me during the month of August in the Facebook group as we walk through the story of Abigail, a woman with secrets.
Now friend, rest in His presence and receive His love.
I’ll see you next time.
Pat
