Psalm 121 is a pretty short chapter in the Bible. Go read it (http://www.esvbible.org/search/Psalm+121/), then come back here.
A good way to study Scripture is to look for repetitive words. For example, in just 8 verses, the psalmist uses the word "keep" or "keeper" 6 times to describe God's relationship to his children. The Hebrew word is shamar and it means "to keep, to guard, watch over, to attend to carefully."
I've tried to imagine what that could literally look like. Think of a father protecting a beloved son or daughter from danger around them. A friend of mine once shared a story about carrying his young daughter into the ocean. As the waves were bearing down and rising around them, she was scared, so he held his daughter even tighter. He kept her, guarded her, and carefully watched over her to protect her from the noise and power of the waves.
I remember my friend saying that as the water was getting deeper and deeper, he kept holding onto her tighter and tighter. He told her, "Daddy is stronger than the waves. Daddy is stronger than the waves." And even though his little girl was scared at first, she felt safe in the arms of her father's embrace.
I think about this passage a lot when I think of what I might face while on the World Race. I will see things and places I've never seen before, come across people and stories I've never met or heard, and perhaps even meet those who hate Christ and hate the Gospel. No matter where I go or what I face or who I speak to (or what I eat), I know I am kept by a Father who watches over me, who will "never leave or forsake me."
I've been letting this truth sink in a whole lot in my life recently, and as weird as it might sound, I'm really not fearful at all about going on this journey. Sure, I will be in unfamiliar places, but knowing I am constantly watched over and cared for, not by a religion or even faith, but literally carried by THE God of the universe, it not only quiets my fears, it comepletely disintegrates them pumps me up!
Remember God's people as they entered into the land the Lord had promised them? The Lord spoke to Joshua and said, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)
No matter how outnumbered you are (or how deep the water), there is no need to be scared. No matter the circumstances, he is with his children, and by him his children are kept.
-Conner
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