The world in which we live is one that offers few certainties. Though we may make long range of plans spanning weeks, months, and even years, the truth remains that there is not one of us who knows what tomorrow may bring forth.
Even though we may not know what the future holds for us, we can be encouraged in the face of all of life’s uncertainties because we do know Who holds the future.
Fanny J. Crosby wrote many of our beloved hymns. One of my favorites is “Blessed Assurance.” It is because of the relationship that we share with Christ that we have assurance, which sustains us. For example, like the apostle Paul, we have the assurance that God “… is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him, against the day of Christ.” What is it that we have committed? Nothing short of our very lives!
In the brief epistle, which bears his name, Jude gives praise to God that he “…is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” While many around us may fear that they may fall from the grace of God, we who have confidence in the atoning work of Christ know that we are secure in Him. Even though we may not appear to be perfect in the flesh, we have become the righteousness of God by Jesus Christ.
The apostle Peter, writing to encourage believers suffering persecution, wrote these words. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and fades not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1: 3-5).
Every child of God is ‘kept’ by His mighty power. The word is so simple yet powerful in its meaning, for it means to be a watcher in advance, to mount guard as a Sentinel, to hem in, or to protect.
God, our Father, is ever watching over us. Though our adversary walks about like a roaring lion ready to attack and devour us, he cannot accept our Father knows of it in advance, and then He will allow it only for a predetermined purpose.
Though there be times of adversity which may cause us to question God’s love and concern, and though hardships may make us wonder if God is still there, we can be certain that He is. He, who loved us enough to become flesh and die for us, will not turn us loose to be devoured by the enemy, but will keep us, and that which we have committed to Him against the very day and which Jesus Christ returns.
Rest assured! You are kept safe in his hand.
Jerry L. Dunn is pastor of Oak Street Baptist Church, Kingman.
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