Protection

Yesterday my son was playing outside with a small watering can while my husband and I were cleaning up our patio. He went up to my husband who had the hose asking for him to fill up the can. My husband looked down and saw a black widow in the watering can and grabbed it away from our son. As far as we could tell, the spider had not touched him, let alone bit him. Reflecting on this experience a little later I thought, "There is nothing more we could have done to protect him and, yet, we have no control over that spider--it could have crawled up on his hand and bit him." (We had even washed out the can several times before letting him play with it.) Then I recalled a simple prayer I pray most mornings: "God, please keep us healthy and safe." I had no control over that spider's actions but God did. Could it be that my little prayer is what kept my toddler safe? In fact, I hadn't even prayed that this particular morning. Did my prayer from the previous day cover this day as well? Sometimes I feel trite praying something so simple time and time again. And in my mind, I am asking for protection for that day, not the next. But God knows better. He knows we need his protection everyday. And He hears my prayer each time I pray it. But, regardless of whether God would have protected my son with or without my prayer, I must give the credit to Him. It was not my doing. "He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples {and spiders} under me." Psalm 144:2 NIV (braced phrase added by me)