There are assaults from which alone Christ can shield us!
Innumerable and invisible,
sleepless and restless,
working with an almost almighty power,
everywhere with an almost omnipresent existence,
ever plotting our ruin �
are the spiritual enemies of our soul, and the sworn foes of our faith!
The world and its fascinations,
Satan and his devices,
the flesh and its tendencies,
error and its disguises �
are all confederate against the child of God, opposing his every advance in holiness!
But Christ is our ever-present shield, near at the moment of assault, and skillful to deflect and disarm it! �Fear not, Abram, I am your shield!� are words addressed to all who have like precious faith with him.
Listen to Paul when defending Christianity before Nero: �At my first answer no man stood with me � but all men forsook me. . . . Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.� Severed from the protection and sympathy of man � he was all the more conscious of the presence and love of God. This is the manner of the Lord with us. The stage shall be swept of the human � to give place to the Divine. When the last human prop bends, and the last spark of creature-hope expires � hail it as the harbinger of Christ�s nearness, that the more signal may appear His loving deliverance, and the more complete and undivided His glory.
Oh yes! the Lord encompasses you! Encircled by danger � you are also encircled by Christ! When you embark in His cause on foreign service, enter the carriage of a railway, launch upon the treacherous sea, bend your steps of mercy to the bedside of the sick, travel the lone and dreary road � be your experience what it may, let your mind be kept in perfect peace, trusting in this truth: the ever-present protection of Jesus. The unhealthy climate shall be harmless, the sickening malaria shall be innocuous, the perilous transit shall be safe � curtained within the pavilion of your Savior�s love. Swelling above the tempest, louder than the voice of many waters, or whispered in the still solitude � shall be heard the words of Jesus, ��So do not fear � for I am with you! Do not be dismayed � for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand!� Isaiah 41:10. Lord, it is enough! My heart trusts in You, and I am helped!
