Chrysostom
Beloved of All
You ask for strong protection and a breakthrough, yet consider the centurion who said, “I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.” He did not presume to demand, but made his need known and trusted Christ’s mercy. Do you see? True protection is not won by insisting upon our own worthiness or by expecting God to shield us from every trial. He often permits affliction precisely to drive us out of our soft ease and into His strong arms, like a mother who frightens her child just enough to make him flee into her bosom.
The apostles themselves were not promised deliverance from death but were given power to despise it, a far greater gift. Those of old refused release from torment so that they might obtain a better resurrection. So when you pray for protection and breakthrough, do not measure God’s answer by the absence of hardship. Rather, persevere in prayer as one unworthy of any favor, placing all trust in His will. Take refuge in the words you sing: “Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.” Let that be your true breakthrough: a soul so anchored in God that it fears no evil, because He is with you. Even if He delays what you ask, He does so to keep you kneeling, and to draw you ever nearer. That is the protection which cannot be shaken.
The apostles themselves were not promised deliverance from death but were given power to despise it, a far greater gift. Those of old refused release from torment so that they might obtain a better resurrection. So when you pray for protection and breakthrough, do not measure God’s answer by the absence of hardship. Rather, persevere in prayer as one unworthy of any favor, placing all trust in His will. Take refuge in the words you sing: “Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.” Let that be your true breakthrough: a soul so anchored in God that it fears no evil, because He is with you. Even if He delays what you ask, He does so to keep you kneeling, and to draw you ever nearer. That is the protection which cannot be shaken.
