A green earplug. That is what tumbled out of my dryer last night as I was washing my husband’s work clothes. And shortly following suit, my knees hit the ground accompanied by some tears.
You see, a lot of 9 to 5 workers won’t understand the significance of that small foam piece, but for a manufacturer’s wife, it has a little more grit to it.
Growing up, my dad was an engineer (and still is). As the oldest of six, one of my chores (and methods of escape) was doing laundry. Maybe it was the fresh scent, the noise of the tumbling dryer, or the relief when the basket was finally empty, but my happy place was in the laundry room. Until those pesky earplugs would show up. I despised those things. Only, Dad’s were orange – not green.
Flash forward to 2022, the days are long gone of doing laundry in my mama’s house. Rather, nowadays, it’s just for me and my husband. But this week as my husband was on night shift, I found that familiar piece of foam falling to the ground. And just like that, the Lord showed me something I’d never realized about those squishy earplugs.
Protection.
They’re for ear protection. But the more I began to ponder, they are so much more than that. My husband, just like my father before him, goes in every day to provide for me. Working a swing shift, he continually forgoes sleep and strength so that I can live the life I’ve always dreamed of.
And it got me thinking, how am I praying for him?
I toss up a quick prayer here and there when things are looking low, but am I storming the throne asking for his protection? The thought of him losing his hearing or - even more unfathomable - not pulling back into my driveway is more than I can bear. When did it become okay to just lump his protection into one measly prayer?
It wasn’t until I came to AFA that I realized the importance of Psalm 91. And wives, we need to be praying it every day for our husbands and family. The enemy seeks to destroy. If you’re not bold enough to passionately pray for protection for your people, who will be?
I read over Psalm 91 for years until I believed its words. Is He a refuge? Or just a Sunday morning comfort? Do we take it seriously? Because those earplugs won’t be enough to protect my man’s soul, but the One who created heaven and earth sure can.
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.
At least to me, this is one of the most important passages in Scripture. And I would encourage every wife and momma to claim its truth over their family. Memorize it. Believe it.
Run to the shelter of the Most High.
