Body Armor

Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him

-Psalm 32:10

     So not long ago a friend of mine posted a picture to his facebook page that he took of what is either something that is on his duty belt (he's a law enforcement officer) or the chain for his wallet. This picture had a very simple subtext to go with it "Real body armor" .  I must have looked at that picture for 5 minutes thinking about what he was saying. You see, we both choose carriers that are fairly rough and yest at times scary, him a peace officer, me and EMT/Firefighter. One of us deals with criminals and faces the constant fear of knives, bullets, battons, high speed pursuit, and not knowing if the next call to come through dispatch could be your last. The other a life of sickness, injury, stress, little sleep, raging fires, twisted metal, high speed, and hot flames. We've both seen our fair share of tragedy and disaster, I don't ask about his, and he hasn't asked about mine, to be honest we hardly ever talk shop at all. You see this photo got me thinking, mostly the caption, body armor real body armor.

The Lord is faithful, and he will protect you from the evil one.

-2 Thessalonians 3:3 

      You see in both our lines of duty we have things to protect us, bunker gear, bullet proof vests, gloves and goggles, etc... But what about our souls? How do we protect that which can't be harmed by bullets or a flame? If you look at the picture you see 3 items on it, a Saint Michael medallion, a cross, and half a sheriffs star. I can not express how moving I find this, know that around my neck I wear something similar. I want to look deeper at this so bear with me.

 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

-Ephesians 6:11

     Lets start with the sheriffs star, or at least the half that he has in the picture, I can only assume that his lovely wife (yes Nikki I said lovely get over it) has the other half. I can't say that I have one of these or anything similar, but I can see why he considers it body armor. The reminder every time that you see half that star, the knowledge that somewhere at home is someone who loves you, that is losing sleep because they heard the sirens blasting in the distance, because they know that you can't always see whats in the car that you just pulled over for not using their blinker. The feeling that tells you that you will do whatever it takes to come home to that person, whether your wife, husband, child or all of the above, this is a piece of armor better than anything that you can wear outside.

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

-Genesis 2:24

     The second item in the picture is that of a Saint Micheal's Medallion, not unlike the one that I wear around my own neck. Now I was raised Lutheran and we don't follow the saints prayers or pray to the saints for protection, and I'm not really sure how it works or how to do it. I believe my friend was raised catholic but I'm not sure. I have worn mine every shift for the last 3 years and now that its on the same chain as my cross,  I wear it everyday no matter what I'm doing or what the occasion. Like I said I don't pray to the saints, I actually got the medallion at the request of my ex fiance, who said it would protect me and haven't stopped wearing it since. I pray to God constantly, but something about the medallion I find comforting, I look at it more as a guardian angel, the Medallion is of Saint Michael on both of ours because he is the patron saint of both EMT's and Police Officers. Maybe someday soon I'll add a Saint Florentine  medallion to the chain as he's the Patron Saint of Fire Fighters. Either way I know that God has angels watching over me and keeping me safe and out of harms way so that I can do what I can to help those who need it.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

-Psalm 91:11

          The last item on the picture is of a cross. Many people wear crosses, some for fashion, some for faith, some just because they got the necklace from a relative and were told they had to wear it next time they saw them so that they didn't feel bad (admit it you've all done this). Out of the three items in my friends picture, and the two items I am currently wearing around my neck, I find this to be the most comforting piece of all. The cross I wear is not only a reminder that Christ gave his life on the cross to forgive me all my sins and that no matter what may happen on this mortal plain, my place is forever with him in eternity, my cross also has sentimental value. When I was about 10 I believe my grandfather passed away, several years later I was helping my mom clean (I think, I might have just been annoying her) and I found this cross in her jewelry box. I asked her whose it was and she told me that it was my grandfather, I asked if I could have it and she said yes, I've been wearing it ever since. The longest I've ever gone without wearing it was when the chain broke and I had to find a new one. When it comes to body armor, what could be more comforting than this? A constant reminder that God sent his only son to save us because he knew that we could not save ourselves. Often times when I'm  nervous or anxious, or just plane scared I find myself checking to see if the cross is still hanging around my neck, I find a certain form of comfort in knowing that it's still there, and shockingly it always is, and even more precious is that it hangs over my heart, as if to say  "Don't worry I've made my home here in your heart and nothing will happen to you." Thank you all for reading hope you enjoyed this post more to come soon I'm sure. :)

The Lord watches over you - the Lord is your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

-Psalm 121:5-5

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     Extra Thought

     Someone once asked me if I believed in angels and if I thought angels walked among people everyday. They asked me if I could see them. At the time I believe I answered that there were angels everywhere but that we couldn't see them at all because they were hidden from us doing good deeds and protecting us. I would like to state today that I was wrong. There are angels that walk among us that we see everyday of our lives. They work long hours, sometimes all night through days on end with little sleep and gas station food. These angels don't have wings, and we can't see their halo's but they are there, most often times wearing a uniform. The angels I am referring to are the men and women that work as police officers, firefighters and EMT's/Paramedics. They take their time to look out for us and help us in our time of illness or injury, run into places that only the devils dares to dwell, risk their lives to stop harm from coming to us. I'm not writing this because I am an EMT/firefighter I'm writing this little extra piece to remind you that there are always angels present both seen and unseen.

So the man who was standing among the myrtle tree's answered "these are they whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth".

-Zachariah 1:10