Remove to Less Contagious Air

Psalm 91:5-6 says this, “Do not be afraid of the terrors at night nor the arrow that flies in the day.  Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.”

“By night” could mean those attacks that are most terrible and least avoidable.  Those things that makes progress and spread death in an invisible manner.

“By day” could mean the open mischief's, the bold enemy attacks, and the things discovered but cannot be resisted.

And yet I wonder if we, by manner of great diligence, can control either of these things, or both.

As of a few months ago I pay close attention to how I “go to sleep.”
When it is tempting to watch news, read facebook, or repeat the portions of my day or week that have been less than lovely, I have been practicing a habit of “aligning my heart with God’s heart.”  For me, this means praying or meditating on His goodness.  Reviewing things my head that I know to be true of God and His nature.  By doing this, I am conditioning myself for a “good and restful night”, and ever more than that, it is my way of “choosing peace.”  I even have a list of God’s character traits sitting in the drawer of my nightstand, so to keep my mind focused on Him.

It’s so important to continue feasting on that which is good.
Especially in these trying times our nation is facing.

But there are also arrows that fly by “day” that are just as devastating.
And through they tend to differ from the ones “at night” that seem less avoidable, they are highly dangerous because given our human “retaliation” mindsets, they seem less resistible.

But we have a responsibility.

First Peter 5:8 says this, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

And he does so often in the midday, when our consciousness would seek to defend and retaliate and seek revenge.
But that’s the point.
Because he knows that if he can bring us to that “breaking point”, he has won.  And it’s a slow but steady downward spiral that follows.

And so what can we do?
We can remove ourselves from the toxic environment.
We can insist on living in the atmosphere of less contagion.

Sometimes we unknowingly heap unnecessary destruction upon our lives because we remain in company… in conditions… that are unhealthy and downright lethal.
Think about the current call to social distancing that our nation is experiencing now.
We are being “ordered” in many communities, to reduce our social involvement to less than 10 people, in an effort to reduce the effects of a world spread pandemic that is threatening lives at an increased rate daily.

And the same thing is happening with the people of God.
While we are called to a world that is contaminated with disease, we are not called to be of the ones filled with corruption that only serves to inflect the people of Jesus.
While we have been commissioned to “seek and save”, we are called to do so with all guardianship and diligence, “Keep your heart with all vigilance…” Proverbs 4:23

There are some conditions we must refuse ourselves entry as it would cause more harm to all that we are trying to make better within our own lives.
We must be wise and,  “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”  (1 Tim 4:16)

And so we actively avoid the “arrows flying by day” when we desire to remove ourselves to a less contagious air.. when we remove our habitation and, “guard the good deposit.”  (2 Tim 1:14)

Ahh… that we would remove ourselves to a less contagious environment lest we become diseased.

It matters far more than we think.