GOD IS THE ONLY SECURITY - By Pastor E.A Adeboye
It is when you become an enemy of God that you begin to look for security from all sorts of sources: military, police and so on. When you have God on your side, you are not afraid in the day or at night because you know that God is there to protect you.
“He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” Psalm 121:3-4
When we talk about God keeping you and that He does not sleep or slumber, we are saying invariably that ordinary night guards can fall asleep. This is telling us straightaway that we should not put our faith in ordinary night guards or bodyguards because they are human beings and they can fall asleep.
A good example is in 1 Samuel 26:7-16. King Saul and his soldiers were pursuing David to kill him. On one occasion, their camps were near each other and David sneaked into King Saul’s camp. He found him sleeping and removed his sword. His soldiers were also fast asleep. David spared King Saul’s life. He went back to his camp and shouted across to rebuke the captain of King Saul’s soldier. Your bodyguard may come from the best security company in your country, if God does not keep you, you are a dead man.
It is when you become an enemy of God that you begin to look for security from all sorts of sources: military, police and so on. When you have God on your side, you are not afraid in the day or at night because you know that God is there to protect you.
In Acts 12:1-11, the enemies guarding Peter slept off because they were enemies of God. God put them to sleep and rescued His own from among them. This is good news for us. We know that witches, wizards and the evil ones perpetuate their evil at night. However, as they are about to plot against you, God will put them to sleep.
In Acts 16:27 when Paul and Silas were put in prison, their jailers were told that they were special prisoners and that they must not escape. However, they fell so much asleep that even when Paul and Silas were praising God, they did not wake up until there was an earthquake and the prisoners were released. God will cause those who are planning your destruction to sleep. Before they wake up, you would have become free.
In Psalm 76:5-6, the Bible tells us what God can do to those who think they can stand against the children of God. It says “The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep” All the enemies of God will be made to sleep while the Almighty God will remain awake.
In Psalm 90:3-6, the Bible says “Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and a watch in the night. Thou carriest them away as with flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which growth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.” Here man is said to be like sleep in the hand of God. If you shake a man, the sleep is gone. In the same manner, if God wants to destroy anybody, all He has to do is to give the fellow a little shake.
Also, the passage talks of man as ordinary grass. The night guards that you put your trust in may look strong in the morning but may be dead before the night. However, God is forever strong. This is why David said in Psalm 4:8 “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety”
This is a message for us at this dangerous time. You should know that if God is on your side, you can sleep in peace and wake in peace. Do not put your trust in any human security because they can fail. It is only God who cannot fail.
What you need to do to remain safe forever is to fear God. If there is no quarrel between you and God, no matter the dangers around, you are safe. One thing that any child of God must never do after putting his or her trust in God is to worry. Put your trust in the One who never sleeps or slumber and He will take care of you.
In Proverbs 3:21-26, the Bible says “My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: so shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken”
This passage is saying that we should have wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Anytime you have the temptation to sin, always remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The moment you keep wisdom, and you do not offend God and you keep remembering that He is watching, you can lay down and no danger will come near you.
THERE ARE MANY SIDES TO SLEEP
We have physical sleep, the sleep of the soul and we have spiritual sleep. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 5:12, “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep”
Prosperity is good but it has its problems if not handled properly. Thank God for prosperity but prosperity can take your sleep away if it is not handed over to God. You have to surrender all to God. Psalm 127:1-2says: “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep”
If you are a beloved of Jesus Christ; He will not sleep but protect you while you are sleeping. You are the one that needs sleep.
It is good to sleep but too much of it could be dangerous. Proverbs 6:9-11 says “How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of the sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.”
This kind of statement is also repeated in Proverbs 19:15 “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger” Also, Proverbs 20:13, “Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread”
Sleep is good but after hard work. Those who sleep too much are asking for poverty. As a matter of fact, children of God must know how to control sleep. The best time to pray is at night because there are no distractions then. Psalms 132:1-5 gives us statements made by David:
“Lord remember David, and all his afflictions: How he swore unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.”
David was saying that he will not sleep until he has built the house of God. We all know that you cannot personally build a house in a day. The building of the temple of God is likely to take several weeks. What David was saying was that he would not rest until he has achieved his goal.
In songs of Solomon 5:2, the Bible says: “I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.”
This tells us that you can be physically asleep while your soul is awake. David was saying in Psalms 132 that his soul and spirit will remain awake until the house of God was built.
The Bible tells us that some people will sleep the sleep of the soul. Soul relates to our ability to understand. Romans 11:8 says: “(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.”
When you are preaching the Gospel to some people, because they have fallen asleep in the soul, no matter how hard you try, they will not understand. It takes the Almighty God to open the eyes of our soul to begin to understand.
Another kind of sleep is called perpetual sleep (Jeremiah 51:54-57). This is the spiritual sleep. Whenever God sends this kind of sleep to anybody, it means that the person is already destroyed. Another name for perpetual sleep is the sleep of death. On the day of the rapture, two people will be sleeping on the same bed, the trumpet shall sound and one will go while the other will not. One will hear the sound because he or she is sleeping physically but awake spiritually. The other will be sleeping both physically and spiritually and will not hear the trumpet sound. Such a fellow will remain here.
In Psalm 13:3 is a prayer I say every night. “Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.”
The prayer is actually that one will not sleep the kind of sleep that will not let one hear the sound of the trumpet. It will be good if you say this prayer too.
Several things can lead you to the sleep of death. Too much comfort can send you to this sleep. When you keep on sinning and you do not see the punishment in time, it can send you to the sleep of death. When you constantly disobey God, you may be leading yourself to the sleep of death. If God has been telling you to give your life to Jesus Christ and you refuse, you can sleep the sleep of death. If you are a backslider and God has been calling you to return and you have been refusing, you can sleep the sleep of death. Give your life to Jesus today.
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