One of my favourite portions of Scripture is found in Psalm 91: "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."(Psalm 91:7,10)
I have read this Scripture countless times over the course of my life and it never ceases to bring me comfort. It reminds me again and again that I am protected because I belong to Christ. He is watching over me and will not let harm come my way. I can think of no better example of this to share with you than of when I was trying to give birth to our oldest son, Benjamin.
I had had a healthy, problem free pregnancy and was eager to be a mama. I worked at my job, in retail, right up to two days before he was born. I felt great! I booked my maternity leave so that I would have three weeks off before the baby was due so I would be able to get things ready but on my first day off I went into premature labour! I called Brad at work and told him I was in labour and he almost hung up on me. He thought I was joking around and Monday morning in a car dealership body shop, when everyone is dropping off their car for service, is not the time to joke around. When he understood that this was the real thing, he quickly came home.
When my contractions were getting close together we left for the hospital thinking that we would have a baby within the next few hours. What we didn't realize was that while Benjamin was anxious to be born, my body wasn't anxious to birth a baby. It wasn't cooperating. I had hard labour for eighteen hours. I kept thinking of this Scripture and holding on to it. I knew God would bring us both through this ordeal.
I can remember feeling like I was going to die. I told my husband that if a choice had to be made of which of us to save that they were to save the baby. Towards the end of the labour they lost the baby's heart rate from the monitor and somewhere after that they lost mine. I don't know what happened during that time, but I can only tell you what I experienced. I saw myself laying on the table and there were four angels standing with their backs to me and their arms crossed over their chest as if they were standing guard. What seemed to be a second later I was back to myself and the doctor and nurses were rushing me to the O.R. for an emergency C-section.
I know I felt a peace that the Lord was with me and wasn't going to let any harm come to me. I hung on to that Scripture. The next day, my labour and delivery nurse, Betty Rafuse, came to visit me. She told me that she had been a labour and delivery nurse for over twenty years and she didn't think she would have ever seen me again. She expected me to die in childbirth. When my doctor came to check on me he told me much the same thing. What kept me alive when the experts expected a different outcome? Was it chance or luck? No, of course it wasn't. I know it was the Lord.
God sent His angels to stand guard over me during a time when I needed His protection. Many other women have been in similar situations and have died, and according to the experts who attended me, I should have too but God had another plan for me. When our pastor came to visit us in the hospital he asked me if I had a favourite Scripture I would like him to read to me. I had him read Psalm 91. He thought it was an unusual request but when I shared what the Lord had brought us through, he understood.
God's Word is true. God is faithful and true always. You can depend on Him. He has never let me down and has protected me from harm more times than I am even aware of. He watches over me and I am thankful. He will watch over you too, if you put your trust in Him. Psalm 91 begins with the most beautiful words: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty...He shall cover thee with His feathers and under His wings shalt thou trust." Let me encourage you to fully trust in Him, you will never regret your decision, I promise.
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