CAN WE STAY SAFE?

It is difficult to read about stories in the press, such as the shootings at Virginia Tech or the violence in Iraq. We may wonder sometimes, “Is it possible to be in the right place but at the wrong time?”

I’m in the habit of turning to God when I have these kinds of thoughts. I ask myself, “What does God say about that?” Is evil natural? Is there anything we can do to protect ourselves from evil? Are we helpless before it? I don’t think so.

In her book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” Mary Baker Eddy often uses the words “omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient” to describe God’s nature. She also uses the word “omniaction” regarding Him. “Omni” means “all”. Therefore God is all-powerful; He is all-present; He is all-knowing and all-active good, so how could there be an opposite to Him?

It seems to me that as we understand more of His presence and allness, we can feel assured that we are safe. When we become convinced that He is the only power and is all good, then we can understand that there is no evil power that can touch us. We feel surrounded by this power and know that we are safe. And when we trust that God is all-knowing, then we see that there is no evil mind to focus on us and make us afraid.

I’ve always loved the story of Christ Jesus simply disappearing in the middle of an angry crowd intent on throwing him off a cliff. They lost sight of him and he proceeded on his way safely. How did Jesus do that? His consciousness was so spiritually filled with the presence and power of God’s love at that time of great danger, that hateful, unloving thoughts simply could not find him or see him. Jesus knew that God, His Father, had created him and was ever with him, and he trusted this with all his heart.

The Bible begins with the knowledge that God created all of us in His image and he created us to have dominion over the earth. (Gen 1:26) Couldn’t that also mean we have dominion over the evil that tries to make itself known in our experience?

Years ago, I was leaving my office about 3 in the afternoon. It was on the fourth floor of the building. I came down in the elevator alone. When the elevator doors opened and I started out into the lobby, I instantly felt evil all around me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I looked into the lobby but it was empty. I looked at the mailbox area but it was empty. There was no one around, just an eerie silence. I looked into the windows of the bank that opened up into the lobby but couldn’t see anyone. So I proceeded through the lobby praying to know that I couldn’t be separated from God’s love and presence. Paul, a follower of Jesus’ teachings, says in Acts (17:28) that we “live, move, and have our being in Him (God)”. I totally trusted in that truth and felt safe. I went out to my car and headed off to another appointment.

That night as my husband and I were watching the news on TV, we heard that the bank located in the lobby of my office building, had been held up at 3 that afternoon. There was a robbery going on by two armed gunmen, at the very same time that I walked through the lobby. They got away with a great deal of money, but were caught within 2 days.

No evil touched me because my thoughts were totally focused on God and His constant presence. This saves us, no matter where we find ourselves. Remember the promise given to us in the Bible, (Psalms 91): “If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For He will order his angels to protect you wherever you go……..The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.” (from the New Living Translation.)

This promise from God is for every one of us right now.
God-speed.