WHAT'S REALLY PROTECTING YOU?

 

Have you ever slept in a tent before? If you have, you know what a relief it can be to crawl into a tent at the end of full day in the outdoors. If not, let me describe it to you. Imagine you’ve just spent a beautiful day taking in all the outdoors has to offer; maybe you’ve explored or maybe you’ve relaxed, but one thing for sure is that you breathed in a bunch of fresh outdoor air. Even though it’s refreshing, surprisingly it makes you very tired. At the end of the day, you zip open the tent door, crawl in, close the door zipper and snuggle into your sleeping bag. You feel safe - safe from bugs, wind, rain and any creepy crawly critters. But, are you really “safe”?

If you really think about it (best not to think about it when you’re deep in the woods trying to sleep in a tent), the fabric that makes up a tent is a fraction of a millimeter thick. Your socks are thicker than that and probably offer more protection!

Images curtesy of the scary internet

All of this came to mind on a recent back packing trip with my son. While sleeping in a tent, something woke me up. I’m not sure what actually woke me, but now I was wide awake and trying to fall back to sleep. While laying there nestled in my sleeping bag I heard something moving around outside the tent. We were in the woods and a lot of creatures are nocturnal, so I wasn’t too bothered by it because I was safe in the tent, right? Suddenly it got quiet and I figured whatever it was outside wandered off. A moment later I heard the sound of something sniffing just on the other side of the tent by my head. By the volume of the sniffing, it was bigger than a mouse and smaller than a moose. Maybe it liked the smell of my shampoo, or maybe it was hungry, either way I didn’t want it getting too comfortable. So, I tucked my chin to lower my voice and said, “HEY”. The creature bounded away and from what I could tell, it was smaller than a bear or a wolf. Soon after I was able to fall back to sleep in my cozy and safe shelter.

We walk around this world exposed to all kinds of threats and danger. Thankfully, there is something with us at all times that is even thinner than a tent, yet more powerful - the Holy Spirit. I am grateful to know the Holy Spirit is always there for me.

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.