8.11.2026 - Jody Duncan

August 11, 2026

2 Thessalonians 3:3

God gives us his faithfulness

In this verse, the Apostle Paul reassures a young church that God is with them and will guard them against evil, even as they face persecution from the outside world and conflict from within. Paul promises the Thessalonians that God will protect them.

One of my earliest memories is that of being carried into the house by my father, after having fallen asleep in the car. I don’t recall where we’d been or how old I was. All I remember is the feeling of being utterly protected and safe.

When have you felt most protected? Do you have a specific memory of that feeling? Who makes you feel protected at this stage of your life? Under what circumstances do you most feel God’s safeguarding of you?

A two-minute recording went viral on the Internet recently. It documented the rescue of a 10-year-old boy by a 16-year-old lifeguard at a beach in Santa Cruz. The boy had gone out on his boogie board, but when the surf became rough, he lost his board and was pummeled by large swells some distance from the shoreline. The young lifeguard doggedly fought through the violent waves to get to the boy and then drag him to shore. Both lifeguard and boy are fine.

It just now occurs to me that ‘lifeguard’ is a perfect name for God’s Son, Jesus. When we believe in him, he literally guards our lives. He guards us from sin, he guards us from temptation, he guards us from despair. In the end, he even guards us from death.

We know, of course, that our faith in Jesus doesn’t protect us from tragedy. All of us have seen a lot of bad things happening to a lot of good, Christian people.

That old question – the paraphrased title of a famous book – comes to mind: Why do bad things happen to good people?

The realities of the physical world are often the source of pain. Tornadoes, floods, viruses, diseases, earthquakes – are all features of our natural

world, and they fall on people randomly, without consideration of who is good and who is bad.

Our free will is another culprit in the disasters that befall us. We are free to make choices, but if those choices are repeatedly foolish and even sinful in nature, catastrophe often follows. It may be the catastrophe of addiction or promiscuity or criminality or any number of negative outcomes; but in each case, our choices – born of our free will – set us on the low path.

There are theological answers to the question of why bad things happen, as well. Our religion teaches us that the world is a fallen one, and that fall led to our pain and suffering. There is also the theological suggestion that suffering ennobles us, strengthens us, and ignites in us a compassion for others we would not otherwise possess.

If tragedy is all around us, how then does God protect us? Our bodies may never be 100 percent safe, but God ensures the safety and the flourishing of our souls through our belief in Jesus, the Great Lifeguard.

We are protected in that Jesus is always at our sides. We are safe in that, through him, we shall live forever in the kingdom of God.

Let us give thanks today for God’s protection, through the grace and sacrifice of his Son, Christ Jesus.