SAFE IN HIS ARMS

SAFE in His Arms

You will be safe in His arms
You will be safe in His arms
'Cause the hands that hold the world are holding your heart
This is the promise He made
He will be with You always
When everything is falling apart
You will be safe in His arms

Monday afternoon around 2:30, Malia and I decided to come up to the church to do some minor decorating for this weekend. We left the five kids at home under the care of their big brother and headed to the church. We gathered up all the decorations that we would need and started tossing around some ideas. While we were brainstorming inside the building, something was brewing outside of which we were unaware. We knew that it was raining but we knew nothing about the storms that were on their way. At around 3:30, my phone rang and the call was from the house. Cohen was on the other end telling me that David Everspaugh called and needed Malia to call him immediately. It all seemed very dramatic at the moment. Malia then called David and he informed us that we needed to get home quickly because there was a tornado headed our way. We immediately called the house and told Wade to get all the kids to the basement and that we would be home in 3 minutes. On our way out of the church we were met by a Canton Police officer who told us to get home quickly. When we arrived home, we found everyone in the basement as we had requested and together we waited out the storms. We were safe!
In John 17:6-19, we find Jesus praying for his disciples. This prayer is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus. He prays it just prior to Judas’ betrayal and His subsequent arrest. In His prayer Jesus asks for the safety of the disciples because He knows that very soon He would no longer be physically with them. Jesus prays to the Father to “protect them by the power of Your name-the name that You gave Me-so that they may be one as We are one,” (John 17:11).
This prayer has two parts to it. The first part expresses how we are kept safe and the second part tells us why that is important. I believe this prayer was meant not only for the Twelve but also for Jesus’ disciples today. This awesome safety is for us too! God’s protection is all wrapped up in the name of Jesus. We read about the power of His name. We talk about the power of His name. We sing songs about the power of His name. But do we really comprehend the awesomeness of His name? In that Name every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord! In that Name the enemy flees! In that Name we are healed! In that Name we are saved! In that Name we are eternally secure! In that Name we are unified!
Unity is found in the second part of verse 11. The meaning in this verse is not that unity would come to the disciples, instead it is a unity that they already had in the name of Jesus. We in the Church talk about unity all the time and how we need to be unified. News flash: WE ALREADY HAVE UNITY! That unity came when we took the name of Jesus. The Church’s present divisions are the result of the failures of Christians. We need to boldly take the name of Jesus under which we are unified in our goal of sharing His name with others. In turn, more people will be safe in His name.

Aaron Hodges