The concepts of protection and safety vary from culture to culture. As a global worker, I am constantly encountering the values of others, so I find my understanding of these terms is usually in flux. They are far more nuanced than I understood when I was younger.

When I think of protection and safety, it is not with the notion that my loved ones and I are
always kept from emotional and physical harm. That would be wonderful, of course, but it does not ring true with life experience. The reason we have the words protection and safety in the first place is to explain there are harmful things in the world from which we desire to be spared. Sometimes, however, we are not spared. This is why I cling to the word with.

The idea of with means I’m in the company of another; it means beside, close, near, together. I am not spared difficulty, but God is with me. During each of my pregnancy losses when I wept bitterly, He was beside me. When a group of men held me in an isolated alley with a knife, my Father was close. When my daughter unknowingly skipped over a sunning cobra while playing in our courtyard, Jesus was near her. When my dear friend died of cancer, she was together with Jesus before and after she passed from this world.

The Father also celebrates with me during every joyful and mundane moment of life. I am
sometimes aware of His nearness when I water plants in my yard, celebrate birthdays with friends, or hang out my family’s laundry.

Blessings and heartbreak are certain to come. God will be close to me in both, actively working out what He knows is best. Thankfully, with is also a certainty. As my daughter says, “No matter what happens, I know I am with God.”