Does the Lord promise to keep me from harm in this dispensation?

[eph3Nine]

Will the Lord keep me from all harm if I seek Him?

• So what is the promise that I should hold to today? If the promise is that the Lord will, "keep me from all harm" if I "seek" Him, does that mean that when harm comes my way it is a sign that I am not "seeking" him? I could believe this but I know that there have been times when harm has come my way when I really believed that I was seeking God. Was I being punished for something I did unwittingly?

Answer:

1. God dealt with Israel, promising that He would lead them, but they were not willing to follow Him. In the dispensation of grace, God doesn’t keep us out of harm. If we are living for Him, He will not let anything come into our lives that we can’t bear. Instead, he says in 1 Co 10:12-13, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” He does try to lead us, but we don’t follow the leading of the Holy Spirit very well. Rom 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
2. If God did control us, this world wouldn’t be in such a mess. Even in the dispensation when God was dealing more directly with His people, Israel, God told David, Psa 32:8-11, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. 9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. 10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him. 11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” God pleads with David not to be like the mule. If God controlled us, He sure would not be pleading with David.
3. We even find God asking “What more could I do”, in Isaiah 5 because He didn’t control Israel. He tried everything else but controlling them. Read Isa 5:1-4, Now let me sing to my Well-beloved; A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard; On a very fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. 3 [God speaks.] “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4 What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?”
4. If you believe or behave the way He wants you to, His promises are that you will not be ashamed: 2 Ti 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.”
5. He also promises that you will suffer. 2 Ti 3:10-17 “But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, 11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” However, we know that Paul was executed for his Christianity.
6. He wrote in many passages, the principles for our lives. Here is an example: 1 Ti 6:17-19 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.