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EMAIL SERMON SERVICE Vol. 4, No. I-5 from Diversity Press

I-5. GOD PROTECTS US

One bright little boy learned how to work his parents. Every
time his mom tried to discipline him he'd start yelling, "I want
Daddy!" Then when it was his father's turn to reprimand him,
he'd yell, 'I want Mommy!' One day when he was in serious
trouble with both of them, he screamed, 'I want Jesus!' "
Well, many people are like that. When we're in serious
trouble, we want God's protection. Once when Elisha and his
servant faced a crises, the prophet made a significant
statement. He said, " 'Don't be afraid . . . those who are with
us are more than those who are with them.' Then he added,'O
Lord, open his eyes so he may see.' " (II Kings 6:16-17a).
That's something we have to do. We must "open our eyes" to see
our assets, to evaluate our resources and to develop our
confidence. The Psalmist said, "May the Lord answer you when
you are in distress . . ." (Psa. 20:1).

Later he said, "The Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore" (Psa. 121:8).

"O Lord, you will keep us safe and protect us . . ." (Psa.
12:7b).

Now, God does protect us, but he doesn't do our job for us.
That would be non-productive. A woman took a parenting course
which included discussions of misbehavior, communication and
self-esteem. She said, "I agreed with all the instructions
until the teacher said, 'Don't do for your children what they
can do for themselves.'

'I can't go along with that,' I blurted out. 'I often tie my
girls' shoes or button their coats, or feed their pets. It only
tells them I love them.'

'Of course you love them,' the teacher explained, 'but doing
too many things for children can cause them to feel helpless.
It can rob them of the joy and satisfaction of doing for
themselves. It also sets up destructive patterns of always
expecting someone to bail them out. In essence, if you do it
for them, that implies, "You can't do this"; You're not
capable"; and such a message is a growth inhibitor.' "
God doesn't want to inhibit our growth. So, how does God
protect us without inhibiting our growth?

I. FIRST, GOD SHARES HIS POWER WITH US.

The early Hebrews believed in God's power. The Psalmist said,
"Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel . . ."
(Psa. 68:34).

Moses said, "Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your
God, who is among you, is a great . . . God" (Deut. 7:21)
The Psalmist says, "The God of Israel gives power and strength
to his people . . ." (Psa. 68:35).

Of course, God is omnipotent, and he wants to share His power
with us; but power can be misused. Once a lady gave her
grandchildren a small incubator and two fertilized eggs from the
local hatchery. The children devoted themselves to those eggs,
turning them every few hours, checking the temperature, and
counting the days. It was a thrilling moment when they began to
hear pecking sounds from inside the shells! But when hatching
day arrived, the chicks had not yet made any cracks in their
shells. The children were impatient and called the hatchery.
"Should we help the chicks out a little by breaking through from
the outside?"

"Absolutely not," replied the man. "Hatching has to happen from
the inside out. If you try to do it for them, the chicks won't
be strong enough to live. The best thing you can do is to just
keep them warm."

That's true of people too. God provides a power source, but
each of us must learn how to utilize it.

A carpenter said, "In my workshop I have a drill, a saw, and a
grinder. All three are plugged into the same power source, but
that electricity doesn't drill or saw or grind. Instead, it
gives each particular tool the ability to do the job it was
meant to do."

That's how God shares His power with us.

II. NEXT, GOD SHARES HIS WISDOM WITH US.

James said, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who
gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be
given to him." (James 1:5).

This is one of the ways God protects us. He guides our
intellect to make the right decisions. But to receive this
guidance we must be tuned in. A ranger was leading a group of
hikers in Yellowstone National Park. He was so intent on
telling the hikers about the flowers and animals that he
considered the messages on his two-way radio distracting, so he
switched it off. Nearing their destination, the ranger was met
by an excited scout who asked him why he hadn't responded to the
radio messages. A grizzly bear had been seen stalking the group
and the authorities were trying to warn them of the danger. But
he wasn't tuned in.

We must be tuned in to God's guidance.
Also, we must understand that guidance. The Psalmist said,
"The Lord upholds (us) with his hand" (Psa. 37:24).
God does uphold us, but we often misunderstand how He works. A
mountain climber got stuck on a steep cliff and couldn't get
down. At first he panicked. It would soon be getting dark and
he couldn't remember exactly how he had reached that particular
place. No one knew where he was, and therefore no one would
come searching.

As he prayed in his distress, he wasn't sure what he expected
God to do. Maybe a rescue helicopter would miraculously appear,
or perhaps a party of climbers with ropes and pitons would
suddenly arrive. Instead, what he saw, was a faint trail off to
one side, zigzagging down the mountain. He moved toward the
spot and found that it was a deer trail, almost indiscernible
and still precarious. But by slowly picking his way down that
trail, he arrived safely in the valley below. He concluded,
"You know, I've learned that when you pray, you also have to
look for and recognize the solutions God provides.
According to legend when a certain man prayed for money to
avoid a business failure, an angel asked God what he should do.
God replied, "We don't have money in heaven. We only have
treasures that moth and rust do not destroy and thieves cannot
steal." We don't have cash or bank accounts, but we do have
insights and inspiring ideas. Give him those."
And that's exactly what God does. That's how God shares His
wisdom with us!

III. FINALLY, GOD SHARES HIS LOVE WITH US.

God's greatest gift is His love. In the Old Testament,
Nehemiah prayed, "O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome
God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and
obey his commands" (Neh. 1:5).

Paul said, "Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured
out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has
given us. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:5,8).
Jesus used the relationship between a mother hen and her babies
to illustrate His own love and concern for us. He said, "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matt. 23:37, kjv).
There are really three times when the mother hen calls her
babies. One occasion is when she finds a bit of food -a crumb,
or a bug. Jesus said, "He that cometh to me shall never hunger,
he that believeth on me shall never thirst" (John 6: 35)
Another occasion is when the experienced old mother hen sees an
ominous black speck in the sky which circles around and around
getting larger and larger. She now utters a very excited cry
and calls her babies together under her wing so she can protect
them from the menacing hawk. The Psalmist said, "He will cover
you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart" (Psa. 91:4).
On another occasion is when she hears the thunder, sees the
lightning and feels the cold wind blowing. Quickly she calls
her babies to the shelter of her wings so she can protect them
from the impending storm. The Psalmist said, "I would hurry to
my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm" (Psa. 55:8).
That's how God shares His love with us!

So, God protects us, but quite often we resent His protection.
We resent it because one element of His protection includes
prohibitions and restraints. We must realize that the
Commandments are not given to spoil our fun. God doesn't say,
"Thou shalt not" because he wants to make us miserable. Like a
parent, he disciplines us for our own good. The child who is
denied the right to do drugs or drive drunk or drop out of
school may resent the restrictions, but he is actually being
protected.

Solomon said, "My son, do not reject the discipline of the
Lord, Or loathe His reproof, for whom the Lord loves He
reproves, Even as a father, the son in whom he delights" (Prov.
3:11-12).

The Psalmist said, "Blessed is the man you discipline . . ."
(Psa. 94:12).

Once a tourist, riding through the desert in Egypt, commented
to his guide, "I haven't seen a fence for miles. Do they build
fences over here?"

The guide replied, "What for? There's nothing worth building a
fence around out here."

Well, God thinks we're worth a lot, so He builds a fence around
us. He does it because He loves us. He says, "You are
valuable, so I'm surrounding you with a fence for your
protection."

God shares His power-we have the strength in emergencies to
overcome obstacles and do what we have to do.
God shares His wisdom-we can use our intuition and intellect to
make good decisions.

God shares His love-we can believe that He cares and trust Him
enough to avoid destructive anxiety.

An old story describes a train that was caught in a terrible
storm. All the passengers were afraid as they saw the
lightening and heard the thunder. But, one little boy seemed to
be totally undisturbed as he played with his toys. After a
while, a nervous passenger said, "You seem to be all alone on
this train. Aren't you afraid to travel in such a storm?" The
child looked up and answered, "No, sir, I'm not at all afraid,
because my father is the conductor of this train."

It's the same with us. God has established this universe to
operate by principles which we can trust to benefit all mankind.
And God will never change those principles.

That's why David said, "Be strong and courageous . . . Do not
be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God . . . is with you.
He will not fail you or forsake you . . ." (I Chron 28:20)

****
Word Count 1850)

These messages are from an unpublished manuscript © copyrighted
by Miles and Maralene Wesner, Idabel, OK. Please use them in
any way you think appropriate. The only thing we ask is that
you give credit for original material in published works.

Sermons with the "I" prefix are from our "What's the Good Word"
Series;
II from our "Pitfalls on the Path of Life"
III are sermons for special days and occasions.

Material in our sermons usually present the Gospel from a
psychological point of view.

My ministry has been blessed immeasurably by reading other
people's sermons. When I started preaching 56 years ago, I
waited for "inspiration" (usually Saturday night, about
midnight) before I began my sermon preparation. Then, I
discovered it wasn't inspiration at all-it was sheer PANIC. I
would have welcomed this service.

Comments are always welcome. (Please indicate if you do not want
your comments to appear in New Perspectives).

Miles E Wesner