Have you ever thought about how safe we are in God?
The Bible says that we are surrounded and encased in Him.
Sometimes we need to know that He is ahead of us. Our future is always an unknown. We have important decisions to make that will affect us and our families for a long time. How can we know that the choices we make are the correct ones?
We have His assurance that He goes before us.
John 10:27 NLT
[27] “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
Jesus will guide us unerringly if we listen to His voice. He promised to make our paths straight when we put Him in the centre of everything we do.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
[5] “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. [6] Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
Psalms 32:8 NLT
[8] “The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.”
His guidance also takes care of those times when we take a wrong turn in life. He doesn’t leave us to flounder in our mistakes. He comes to our aid with His gentle voice that redirects us to the right way when we have deviated from His way.
Isaiah 30:21 NLT
[21]”Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.”
“To the right or to the left” is an expression that, in some cases, implies, getting sidetracked or distracted from God’s path.
Proverbs 4:25-27 NIV
[25] “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. [26] Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. [27] Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”
Proverbs 4:25-27 NLT
[25]”Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. [26] Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. [27] Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.”
God’s got our backs. He is determined to keep us on track to the end of the road to glory.
However, God is not only all around us; He is also above us and beneath us, moving us upward towards Himself and preventing us from falling away from Him. He is on the throne, urging us to seek Him where He is, above, reigning and in charge of all our circumstances. We are where He is, in Him, safe and secure until the day we see Him face-to-face.
Colossians 3:1-3 NLT
[1] “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. [2] Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. [3] For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”
We also have the assurance that He is underneath us, ensuring that we never fall to our doom.
Deuteronomy 33:26-27 NLT
[26] “There is no one like the God of Israel. He rides across the heavens to help you, across the skies in majestic splendor. [27] The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. He drives out the enemy before you; he cries out, ‘Destroy them!’ “
Jude 1:24 NLT
[24] “Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.“
Paul endorsed the sentiments of a Greek poet who wrote,
Acts of the Apostles 17:28 NLT
[28] “For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”
Most of all, God’s got us safely enclosed in His hand.
John 10:28-30 NLT
[28]”I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, [29] for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. [30] The Father and I are one.”
Colossians 3:3 NLT
[3]”For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”
So, dear readers, in a world full of dangers, uncertainties, and insecurities, we can have the utmost confidence in the God who surrounds us from side to side and above and beneath. His presence encases us and promises us safe passage through all the ‘dangers, toils, and snares’ (of John Newton’s ‘Amazing Grace’), of this life until we reach our eternal home.
Psalms 5:12 NLT
[12] “For you bless the godly, O Lord; you surround them with your shield of love.”
Only in Thee, O Savior mine,
Dwelleth my soul in peace divine,
Peace that the world, though all combine,
Never can take from me.
Pleasures of earth, so seemingly sweet,
Fail at the last my longings to meet;
Only in Thee my bliss is complete,
Only, dear Lord, in Thee!
- Only in Thee a radiance bright,
Shines like a beacon in the night,
Guiding my pilgrim bark aright,
Over life’s trackless sea.
Only in Thee, when troubles molest,
When with temptation I am oppressed,
There is a sweet pavilion of rest,
Only, dear Lord, in Thee! - Only in Thee, when days are drear,
When neither sun nor stars appear,
Still I can trust and feel no fear,
Sing when I cannot see.
Only in Thee, whatever betide,
All of my need is freely supplied;
There is no help nor helper beside,
Only, dear Lord, in Thee! - Only in Thee, dear Savior, slain,
Losing Thy life my own to gain,
Trusting, I’m cleansed from ev’ry stain;
Thou art my only plea.
Only in Thee my heart will delight,
Till in that land where cometh no night
Faith will be lost in heavenly sight,
Only, dear Lord, in Thee!
Source: The Cyber Hymnal #5263
All representative texts • Compare texts^ top
Author: Thomas O. Chisholm
Dianne Shapiro, from “The Singers and Their Songs: sketches of living gospel hymn writers” by Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (Chicago: The Rodeheaver Company, 1916)…