I often find myself wondering and worrying about the “what-ifs” in life. Do you do this? What if I don’t get the healing that I’m praying to receive? What if I’m expecting something good and get something bad instead? What if my one family members get hurt or dies suddenly?

Maybe that’s why today I kept thinking about the word kept. Kept is a very common word used many times in the English language, and today as I thought about this word, I felt I was supposed to pause and really give attention to it.  Often, when this happens, the Holy Spirit wants to whisper something to your soul.  So even though I know what the word means, as I studied its definition, the word kept took on a whole new meaning. 

According to the Miriam Webster dictionary, the word kept (or its present tense verb keep) has many meanings. Here are just a few:

• To retain in ones possession or power
• To refrain from granting, giving or allowing
• To have in control
• To be faithful to
• To fulfill
• To preserve
• To maintain
• To maintain course or direction
• To stay, remain

As I began to ponder the word, the Holy Sprit made it clear that He was reminding me that this is what the Lord does for us, his precious children.  He keeps us. We don’t have to worry or be afraid, for we are kept by our holy, loving and faithful Father (Psalm 23).  We are safe in His arms, and under the shadow of His wings we find refuge (Psalm 91:4). It doesn’t mean that we won’t face difficult times in our lives, but God keeps us through the hardships.

As I looked at the definitions for the word, it became clear!  We are kept in God’s possession and power.  He doesn’t give us over to things that would harm to us  (Psalm 91). God has us in His control (Psalm 19:21). God is faithful to us, and He fulfills His promises to us (Romans 4:21). He preserves and maintains our lives.  He directs the course of our lives. We are kept with His holy presence as we remain steadfast in Him (Isaiah 26:3). The Bible is full of examples of God keeping his children.  Remember the ten plagues in the book of Exodus that devastated Egypt, but not God’s chosen people?  God promised to deliver his people and that is exactly what he did over and over again in powerful and miraculous ways. How about when Jesus’ disciples were on a boat and a wicked storm rose filling the boat with water. They were terrified, and thought they were going to drown. They woke Jesus, and he rebuked the wind and said to the sea “Peace! Be still!”

Kept. How simple this little word is, yet these four little letters hold such great power! 

Think about a few variations of the present tense verb keep.  Take the word keeper, for example.  When we think of something or someone as “a keeper,“  it’s something that we don’t ever want to let go of.  Well, God is our keeper (Psalm 121:5)  When we truly surrender our lives to Him, he maintains us and takes custody of us. We then become a “keeper” to Him, and He never lets go.

How about the term “for keeps”. When we use this term, it means we want to have something for a very long time. It’s permanent.  When a game is played “for keeps”  the winnings are kept by the victor.   Similarly, our God plays “for keeps”when it comes to our salvation. Once we belong to Him, that’s it.  We are His for eternity! That’s permanent. 

So the next time you utter or read the word kept, remember that’s you. If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ , you are his beloved.  It’s permanent.  There is no going back.  

You are kept!