I remember the moment I became a momma.

My memory can be tricky with things, and I don’t always have clear pictures of memories. But the ones I do have are right there in front of my face, like they just happened yesterday. My children’s births are included in those memories. I can see both of my children being handed to me like it was yesterday.

When my oldest son, Kyle, was born, I remember some of my first thoughts as he was handed to me. I vowed to myself and to God that I would protect and defend this child’s life to the death.

There is something that takes over in us as parents when we hold our children and realize that we have been given responsibility for this life in front of us.

I believe that feeling is just a glimpse of what our Heavenly Father feels for us.

And His Word has so much to say about Him being our defender.

Deuteronomy 20:4 (NASB) — “For the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”

2 Chronicles 32:8 (NASB) — “With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NASB) — “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.”

2 Timothy 4:18 (NASB) — “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever.”

I love having Scriptures from both the Old and New Testaments when I talk about these topics. Sometimes we can think something only happens in one place or the other. But seeing it throughout the whole Bible reminds us that God has always been our defender.

He has done this, He is doing this, and He will continue to do this all the way to heaven.

There is a consistency throughout the Bible: God is a God who is with us.

He is personal and desires closeness with us. He is not a parent who is far off, caught up in His own things and not paying attention to us.

He is with us.

He is helping us.

He is fighting our battles.

He is leading us to victory.

But oftentimes, we feel like He isn’t with us because the battles seem so long and hard or because we don’t really feel His presence with us.

The enemy wants us to believe that God has left us.

But He has not.

That is the truth.

There are moments when we question or doubt that He is doing anything. The battle is weary, and we are exhausted in ways you can’t even put into words. We wonder why He hasn’t stepped in.

I have felt that way an overwhelming amount of times through different seasons of my life, especially through my battle with depression.

We don’t understand His timing. Sometimes battles do go long. Sometimes some battles last most of our lives.

And we can look at victory as something that only happens on this side of heaven.

But that is not always true.

Sometimes victory is getting through the day or even just the moment while keeping our eyes on Jesus.

Other times, victory is being able to take the next step when we feel like getting into a cocoon and hiding away from everyone and everything.

Our perspective of victory, and what we think God should be doing, can distort our view of what God is actually doing and how He is fighting for us.

Sometimes our weariness comes from trying to fight for ourselves, trying to be our own defender, trying to defend others, or trying to fix and micromanage people and situations instead of allowing God to be the One who does that.

Exodus 14:14 (ESV) says, “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

The CSB says, “The LORD will fight for you, and you must be quiet.”

And the NLT says, “The LORD Himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

This is one of those Scriptures I keep in front of me as often as I need the reminder.

I can get very anxious about situations. God continues to work on that in me, but anxiety can cause us to say things when we need to be quiet. It can cause us to keep trying to find solutions or ways to make things better.

I start trying to “do” things when what I really need to do is be silent, be quiet, and stay calm.

Can anyone relate??

When I am anxious about it all, I need to pause, pray, lay down, and let go of my concerns, which are usually things I have no control over anyway.

When I am afraid that someone is talking about me in a bad way, or I feel like I have fallen short of someone’s expectations of me and disappointed them, I can start fearing what they may say about me.

I need to pause and trust that God will be my defender.

When I am not treated well in a situation, it is not for me to lash back. I need to bring it to God and ask Him how He wants me to handle the situation.

We can trust Him to do this!

I have seen Him do it over and over.

And even in those times when I have gotten in the way or tried to get in the middle, He has redeemed those moments, those places, and even those relationships.

This morning, I read Psalm 62:8 (NASB):

“Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.”

It felt like another reminder from the Lord, almost like He was whispering to my heart:

Trust Me. Not just sometimes, but at ALL times.

Pour out your heart to Me.

Tell Me what is bothering you, what is burdening you, and everything you are carrying.

He wants to take it.

He wants you to let Him be your defender in this life.

So, will we release all that we are burdened by, the things we are trying to fix or micromanage?

Will we give Him our unknowns, what we fear people are saying about us, and the wrongs that have been done to us?

Will we trust Him with ALL things, people, and situations in our lives?

Heavenly Father,

We thank You that You are our defender.

Thank You that You are with us every day, everywhere, and at ALL times.

Help us to trust You at ALL times with ourselves, our families, our circumstances, our church families, our time, our finances, and everything in our lives.

Thank You that You are the defender of our hearts.

In Jesus Name, Amen.