Proverbs 6:22 When you walk they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.

We were in a taxi leaving the city and heading for a village a few hours away from where John was supposed to be speaking this evening at a smallish village church. The road was horribly bumpy, rutted from previous rainstorms and dusty today. The window open and you choke, the window closed and you melt.

We had been bumping along slowly for around 30 minutes when we came around the corner to a large checkpoint, manned by armed men in uniform. It’s always hard to tell (for me at least) whether the uniforms were military, local police, or local militia.

Slowly a truck in front of us was inspected and passed, then we were creeping forwards, papers were demanded. Several armed men stood around the car talking loudly with each other. Suddenly we too were passed and the barrier was lifted and we were on our way. Five hundred yards later and the gearbox in the taxi came loose and we shuddered to a halt.

We were stuck here now, in the middle of nowhere. The taxi driver walked off back down the road to look for some way to get help. We turned and walked up the road a bit till we came to a rough wooden building that looked like a cantina, we could hear loud voices inside.

John told me to wait here while he went to see how we could perhaps move on. There was a burnt-out truck just beside the building.

John had been gone around five minutes when suddenly the cantina doors opened and three or four heavily armed drunken men piled out, all dressed in the same military gear as the men at the roadblock.

They started firing off their weapons randomly. I walked around the back of the burnt-out truck, aware that it only offered the appearance of protection, but that bullets would pass through it easily.

I could hear twigs above my head snapping as bullets passed through the lower branch areas. Occasionally I heard the heavy whir in the air as a bullet passed by closer. The gunshots were loud and lasted for around another 20 to 30 seconds I would guess.

Then the men were stumbling back into the cantina to continue their day. A large truck pulled up, high sided and open-roofed. John jumped down from the back and ushered me over and I jumped in. There were another twenty or so people already stood up in the back.

We pulled up about a bumpy hour later at the door of the church John was speaking at, the service had just started. Around a hundred people were packed into and outside the building.

We called out our thanks and goodbyes to the driver and headed into the service to give our heartfelt thanks to God.

KNOWLEDGE

It’s like Big Brother has taken a turn for the better, and rather than trying to see your weaknesses and faults, instead, your safety, your health, your wellness is being protected by the instructions and watchful gaze.

There will be warnings for you when you get too close to the boundaries of your heart or behaviour.

No matter where you go or what you are doing there is a sentry over your life. You will know the wise choice in every situation.

You will know when to be quiet and when to speak, when to ask a question and when to state your case.

At every turn of event, in prosperity and in unexpected sudden disaster, you are safe, you are held, and you are loved.

You are a blessing to your family, your friends, and everyone who comes in contact with you, simply because you have submitted to God and He is with you.

UNDERSTANDING

Let’s pick one word from this verse to look closer at and see if that can help us gain a deeper insight into how God would love us to live?

The word for “watch” in Hebrew is pronounced as “samar” and this word appears 463 times in the Old Testament.

In the ESV this word is translated into English words such as, keep; careful; observe; pay attention; performing; guard; besieging; and, secure.

For our scripture in verse twenty-two, we pick up on the idea of being securely guarded.

WISDOM – what will we meditate on and consider in our minds today?

STRENGTHS THOUGHT: Adaptability, participates does not manipulate, and lives rather than leverages.

Allan’s Unauthorised Version – [As you travel here and there, they [your father’s commandments and your mother’s teaching] will guide you, when you rest and when you sleep they will keep you secure, and when you rise up from inaction, they will help you consider and meditate.]

PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Help me to intentionally stay close to all the guidance that God is giving me each day. Thank you.

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