Have you heard of the term, “Protective custody?" Protective custody is usually enforced when someone’s health or welfare is in danger.
When the postal carrier delivered my mail today, the mail brought with it some unsolicited mail and advertisements. One advertisement, from on the outside, was extremely appealing, but once it’s contents were revealed, it revealed some unsolicited thoughts. Some thoughts are easily erased and some thoughts are not so easy. Some situations can roll off your mind, like water off a duck’s back. Some situations become like a revolving door, we just can’t get them out of our minds, they keep rolling over in our minds.
Worry comes directly to our address like it was mailed and marked “special delivery”, with no return address. Sometimes we wake up, and find worry greeting us. We open our eyes and worry says, “Good morning”. Some of us don’t wear “worry” well. Worry becomes like a pimple that keeps popping back up in different places. Worry is like the tartar that keeps coming back on our teeth, that needs to be removed by the dentist. Worry becomes like dust on our furniture, as soon as we dust it off, in a few days, dust is back.
Worry takes all kinds of forms in our lives. Sometimes we will allow worry to take up permanent residence in our lives. We can kick worry out, and replace it with something else. We need to kick worry out and replace it with peace. If you don’t kick out worry and replace it with peace, worry will mutate into anxiety, trouble, distress, concern, upset, uneasiness, and disconcertment. It will keep mutating and keep transforming itself, until you may have to find yourself, temporary housing. Temporary housing, where? An insane asylum or some mental institution.
That’s why we should always pray without ceasing. We need to ask God to protect us against all things and place us in “protective custody”. We need to go before God and give Him all of our needs, knowing and trusting without any doubt, that once we do this, He is the only ONE, who can grant us our request.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:6-7 NIV.
We know that God who has never failed us, and will never fail us. We know that under his care, we are safe from harm. We know that He is our shield, our shelter, and our strong tower. We know that while we are in “protective custody," those giants that were coming against us, have been faced with “The Giant," that will destroy them.
We can rest with assurance, when we are placed in “protective custody”, that all will be well. While we are in “protective custody," we know that God’s plans for our life, far exceeds any circumstances that are brought before us, because He promised us that he will be with us always. God cannot lie!
God loves us and he has compassion on us. He knows we may worry about many things. He knows that worries cause us to lose our focus, and sometimes we tend to focus more on the worry, and less on God. We need to give the problem to Jesus, and focus more on God. Worry robs us of our joy. God tells us over and over again, to give Him our problems. He tells us that He has us in “protective custody”. He tells us to give our cares and concerns to Him. He tells us that He will provide for us, and meet our needs. While we are in “protective custody," God promises us that His peace will permeate our hearts and our mind, by casting off ALL worries on Him. Praise God for His Supernatural peace! Lord, please place me in “protective custody”. Thank you and amen!