Provision and Protection

UV 858/10,000 Provision and Protection Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. In a time of prayer, the Lord said that a huge pit is dug before a building is built. The pit looks ugly but when the building is completed, it is quite beautiful. The pit has to be dug for strong foundations to be laid. The pit is the metaphor for the preparation of our lives and character that the Lord causes to happen as a foundation for our lives. Indeed, He has lifted us up from the dust of the pit. The deeper the pit or the greater the suffering we have sustained, the stronger is our faith foundation. If any project a believer undertakes has to succeed, the Lord has to be in it and with us from start to finish and beyond. The greatest success without the Lord is worse than the greatest failure with Him. Living in accordance with the Lord’s will and purpose every day of our lives is the greatest success and fulfilment a man can seek. It is the presence and the blessing of the Lord that makes the difference between fulfilment and failure. Yesterday, I was reading the tragic news of a family who was preparing to install a board of a beauty parlour to be installed above the newly inaugurated parlour. Accidentally, it touched the live electric cable just above and four people were electrocuted to death. As a police officer, I know that despite whatever precautions we take, it is the Lord’s protection that gives us both immediate and ultimate security. The first part of the above uni-verse is about provision, success, fulfilment of our life’s purpose and mission. He makes our work fruitful. This is in contrast to what Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes that all the labour of a man is in vain. The second part of the uni-verse is about protection, guidance, security. When I was posted as Commissioner, Trichy a few years ago, the whole city was threatened by massive rains and flood. There was little that we could do as a police force for the water inundated the streets and many place rose up to the first floor. Even my own large jeep barely made it through the waters in spate after rescuing some people who were marooned on an island in the river. Before I left to take charge of the city, the Lord had confirmed in prayer , “ Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain…” Prateep V Philip