The Promise Of Protection

He will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.

Psalm 91:11-12

These verses are very good news when you are on a plane or have a son or daughter in active duty in the air force. When my friend Dorothy’s son Richard was in training flying T-38s, he was excited about his dream job. He and the other pilot-in-training would fly in formation at extremely high speeds, thrilled at every assignment and challenge they were given. Not so his mom! She was panicked for her son. In Arizona, skies were blue every day, and that meant Richard would be up there streaking through the sky. Worry totally occupied her mind.

During this time, a friend visited for lunch. After Dorothy poured out her worries, her friend said, “Dorothy, I’m ashamed of you! Why are you worried about your son? Don’t you know God loves him a lot more than you do?” The friend suggested Dorothy pray for the Lord to assign an angel to fly on Richard’s wing.

From then on, Dorothy didn’t worry about her son. She prayed every day for an angel to fly on the wing of his plane and trusted that God’s angel would protect Richard wherever he went. Flying in the air force and later for a commercial airline, he has had close calls, flying in dense fog, storms, and even blizzards. But time after time, his mom saw that the angel on his wing brought him safely home.

Wherever we or our loved ones are, God is there. Psalm 139 assures us that even if we go up to the heavens, he is there. If we rise on the wings of the dawn or settle on the far side of the sea, even there God’s hand will guide us and hold us fast.

All your promises prove true, and your children are held safe in the palm of your hand. Thank you for your ministering angels that watch over us and protect us wherever we go. In Christ’s name, amen.

It seems to be God’s plan to allow all sorts of things to happen that would naturally cause fear, but to forestall them by the assurance of his presence.

Amy Carmichael(1867–1951), Irish missionary to India