I've Got You Covered

You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not approach you. Psalms 91:6, 7 (NASB)

I really like stories about how God delivers people from drastic circumstances and even death. What is more exciting than reading about it is hearing a firsthand account from someone who experienced God’s protecting power. Nick Choco (sounds like choe-koe) a pastor of mine when I was a teenager, had been a Navy Medical Corpsman during the Korean War. Navy corpsmen were used as combat medics in Marine Corps divisions and a young Nick Choco was attached to the 1st Marine Division. At that time he was a 20 year old from New Castle, Pennsylvania and a committed Christian. Pastor used to briefly mention from the pulpit incidences he had experienced in going to injured Marines under fire and how God protected him. He mentioned one time from the pulpit that a Navy corpsman couldn’t stay under cover when a wounded Marine yelled “Corpsman!” but had to go to the man and give medical aid, even if bullets were flying. After one service I stopped him outside and asked, “Pastor Choco, were you ever wounded when you put yourself out in the open to help a marine?” He thought a moment and said, “No, but I came close.” He paused as his eyes got a faraway look. “I do recall one time I went to a wounded marine by a tree. While I was working on him Chinese machine gun bullets were tearing into that tree next to me.” His eyes got really big as he thought of it and he finally said, “Whew, that tree was being torn apart by that machine gun…thinking back on that I ought to be dead but I didn’t get a scratch. God’s hand was covering me that day.”

I believe it’s good to read and hear stories like this. A lot of Christians say miracles were only for the Old and New Testaments. But I’ve always tended to choke on that bone as I have personally experienced God’s miraculous power working in my own life and in the lives of those around me; Mighty Power that has no equal. That power is given to each of us individually to meet that individual need we are facing. Perhaps it isn’t always in the physical realm as it was for Medical Corpsman Nick Choco but in a wonderfully tender and emotional keeping that puts us at rest and builds our faith and trust in Him. He works for us in the smoke and noise and when His voice speaks to us in quiet reassurance. His keeping power is constant and capable. In any condition and situation His word to us is, "Don't worry, I've got you covered."

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com