All God’s protégés

Recently, when I was striving for a better understanding of the protection that God, divine Love, affords to all His children, the thought came to me that we are all God’s protégés.

This was less of a surprise to me as I recalled that the word protégé derives from the French for “protected,” but I found it appealing because of its freshness, simplicity, and practicality.

I knew that protégé was more generally used to describe those who are under the patronage, tutelage, or guardianship of someone, particularly someone of special skill and experience who can help them develop their own talent or expertise. Protégés also benefit from the caring, nurturing, and sheltering presence and influence of their patrons or mentors in their efforts to make progress.

It can clearly be comforting and encouraging to be someone’s protégé. Yet might it not be even better to see ourselves as God’s protégés—as His protected ones—always under His guidance. How much more secure and comforting! Human supervision may be variable, but God’s care is permanent, and something we can rely on.

God’s care is permanent, and something we can rely on.

Interestingly, although the fact of God’s protection is both implicit and explicit throughout the Bible (as, for example, in the 91st Psalm), the word protection only appears once in the King James Version, in Deuteronomy 32, where God’s people are told that although they might look to material offerings and sacrifices for their protection, God is in truth their only protector: “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me” (see verses 38, 39 ).

The idea of divine Love nurturing us and taking us under its wing is spelled out in several verses in the Old and New Testaments. For example, Christ Jesus spoke of gathering people together “even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings” (Matthew 23:37 ); and Mary Baker Eddy, drew upon Bible imagery for her poem “Love,” which opens with the lines, “Brood o’er us with Thy shelt’ring wing, / ’Neath which our spirits blend” (Poems, p. 6 ).

Elsewhere, in writing of the way God guards us, Mrs. Eddy makes it clear that we are “… safe in His strength, building on His foundation, and covered from the devourer by divine protection and affection” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 263 ).

Many hymns in the Christian Science Hymnal affirm God’s protection for all His children. One that has particularly helped me is No. 278 , which includes the lines “Cared for, watched over, beloved and protected, / Walk thou with courage each step of the way” (adapted © CSBD).

That became a daily prayer for me at a time when circumstances required me to move forward in my life after my wife’s passing. I had to contemplate living on my own for the first time in my life, and needed to move on in a number of ways, including relocating, finding suitable accommodation, and adjusting to many new situations and relationships.

With gratitude I acknowledged the courage that comes to us all from God, but also felt the need to be protected from making hasty or unwise decisions. As I prayed for guidance, it became clear to me that, as God’s protégé, I could go forward in complete peace, knowing that He was truly taking care of me “each step of the way.” Within a few weeks I had found a comfortable flat in a peaceful housing complex that was just right for me in every way.

Looking back over my life, I can recall occasions when things didn’t work out as I had planned or envisioned. But as I came to understand that, in truth, I remained constantly at one with my divine Father, inseparable from His purpose for me, harmonious solutions were soon found.

In fact, it’s clear to me now that we can never move out from under God’s “shelt’ring wing.” We are protected by Him at all times. We are His protégés forever.