A prayer we parents often pray for our children is, "Lord, please put a hedge of protection around them today." In my morning Bible study, I ran across a verse that seems to resonate with this petition. It's in 2 Cor. 12:9.
Here Paul uses a word that contains the word for "tent," much like John 1:14 does.
The idea in John 1:14 is that the Word "pitched his tent" among us, no doubt an allusion to the Old Testament tabernacle in which the Divine Presence of God dwelt, first in the wilderness, and then in the temple.
And what about 2 Cor. 12:9? Most translations read something like "that the power of Christ may rest upon me" or "that the power of Christ may dwell in me." But there are at least 3 exceptions:
- The GNT reads "in order to feel the protection of Christ's power over me."
- The OJB (Orthodox Christian Bible) has "that the gevurah of Moshiach might be a shelter over me."
- And the DHH (Dios Habla Hoy) has the rendering "para que repose sobre mí el poder de Cristo."
This is precisely my prayer each and every morning for my kids and grandkids. I release them into his hands. I envision him erecting a large protective dome above them. He's there to help them in their Christian walk and there to pick them up if they fall.
Being a Christian in a non-Christian world is a sweaty struggle. There are "many dangers, toils, and snares." I am helpless to ward off the enemy, but God is not.