The Lord Protect You

We’ve gone from being safety conscious to paranoid. I remember the good old days, riding in the back of the Studebaker Lark station wagon without air-bags or seat-belts. (Yes, that's our car on a family road trip - remember those water window cooler things? Are we the only ones who had one?) We used sticks as swords, hiked without a GPS, and drove on recap tires. We felt safe without a cell phone and drinking from the faucet. But now, to be safe, we somehow need low IQ warnings:

1. "Warning: has been found to cause cancer in laboratory mice." This was printed on a box of rat poison. Guess it works.

2. "This product is not to be used in bathrooms." Printed on a bathroom heater.

3. On Children’s Cough Medicine: "Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication.” We wouldn’t want any 3-year-olds with a head cold driving a tractor while on meds.
4. On packaging for a clothes iron:"Do not iron clothes on body." Darn – no free tan.
5. On hairdryer: "Do not use while sleeping." It’s hard to dry the hair stuck on the pillow anyway.
6. On a package of Foaming Face Wash – "Caution: May contain foam."
7. ON a package of Pine Mountain Fire Logs - "Caution: Risk of fire."
8. More on Sunday…

“The Lord protect you” flys in contrast to our lable-obsessed, sue-obsessed culture. Paranoid to a fault, we filter our water, have more airbags than cup-holders, and print, "Caution, contents may be hot" lables on cups of... hot coffee. I’m not saying trying to be safe is a bad thing – just that the extremes we go to are proof of our paranoia. We’re afraid of pain, of death, of giving up control, of change. However, the only ones who are truly safe in this world – the only ones who truly live - are the ones who have given up control.

Only God can mold you into all that He designed you to be, and only God can protect you in that process. Maybe it’s time we gave Him control.

Dan