This document summarizes three stories that illustrate God's protection of believers: 1. Lolita Jackson survived the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center after feeling a supernatural calmness and following instructions that saved her life, while one of her colleagues who did not follow her died. 2. Auburn football player Eric Etheridge avoided paralysis after a collision by divine intuition that kept him from moving until help arrived, despite instincts telling him to get up. 3. Pastors and authors discuss biblical examples and theological perspectives on God protecting those who walk in faith and obedience until their purpose is complete, noting many believers have experienced protection from harm.

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PHOTOGRAPH: CHRISTOPHER HORNER/PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEWBUNE-REVIEW
flung bats and foul balls at
baseball outings.
“As long as I’m with
my dad, I’m OK,” he told
the Ocala Star-Banner in
Ocala, Fla.
Dale Evrist, pastor
of New Song Christian
Fellowship in Nashville,
Tenn., and author of a
book on God’s protec-
tion of believers called
The Mighty Hand of God,
would agree.
When Evrist saw the
photo of Shaun stretching
out to shield his son—who
was looking down at his
dad’s phone when Pirates
outfielder Danny Ortiz’s
face from
an errant
baseball bat
at a March 5
spring train-
ing game
between
the Atlanta
Braves and
the Pittsburgh Pirates
quickly went viral on so-
cial media.
If a picture is really
worth a thousand words,
surely none of those
words were as rich in
meaning as what Landon
Cunningham, a 9-year-old
Braves fan, said about the
prospects of danger from
T
he picture of Shaun
Cunningham’s
outstretched arm
shielding his young son’s
HANDOFPROTECTION
THE FATHER’S
Within God’s
will, the believer
can live boldly,
fearlessly
ABOVE:
Shaun
Cunningham
deflects a flying
bat, saving his
son, Landon,
from certain
injury.
INSET:
An instant later,
the bat is past
the boy.
by
Jerry
Pierce

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carry my name before the
Gentiles and kings and
the children of Israel.”
Although Paul and all
the other apostles except
for John died as martyrs,
Paul’s life had God’s pro-
tection amid shipwrecks,
a stoning, beatings, ven-
omous snakes and other
threats until his work
as a missionary was ful-
filled. He suffered but was
not crushed.
Evrist notes: “When
the servant of God walks
in faith and obedience,
they are indestructible
until God’s plan for them
has come to completion.”
WHERE PRAYER AND
PROTECTION MEET
Steve Gaines, pastor of
Bellevue Baptist Church
in suburban Memphis,
admits he doesn’t com-
prehend why God allows
evil in one place—he
mentioned the church
shooting in Charleston,
S.C., last June as an
example—yet stops it
in another.
But he’s grateful in
those times of protection,
all the same.
Gaines is adamant
about the role of prayer
fighting for Israel as
He divides the Red
Sea as a means of
their escape from the
pursuing Egyptian
army. Though often
stiff-necked, Israel is
God’s chosen vehicle
for bringing forth
the Messiah.
• In Joshua 2, God re-
wards a fearful and
repentant prostitute,
Rahab, for her faith-
fulness in hiding
the Hebrew spies by
sparing her and her
family while the rest of
Jericho perishes.
• In 1 Samuel 7, the
Lord observes Israel’s
repentance from idol
worship and blesses
them with victory
and protection over
the Philistines for the
rest of the Prophet
Samuel’s life.
• Psalm 91 waxes ef-
fusive about God’s
protection, charac-
terizing the Lord as
a refuge, shelter and
dwelling place, an
avenger and a sav-
ing source.
In Acts 9:15, the Lord says
that Paul “is a chosen
instrument of mine to
bat went flying toward
the stands—he almost
immediately thought of
theological parallels.
“If an earthly father’s
instinct in protecting his
child enables that father
in a split second to ward
off a projectile coming at
his son to do him harm,
and if we serve the God
and the Father of the
How Much More, then
how much more will
your heavenly Father give
good things?” Evrist told
Decision, quoting from
Matthew 7:11. “He knows
the bat’s coming. He’s the
helicopter over the pa-
rade. He declares the end
from the beginning.”
Evrist acknowledges
that God’s plan often
allows suffering, and
sometimes tragic death,
yet God’s economy seems
to allow for more pro-
tections from natural
calamities and human
evils than the believer
likely realizes.
Scripture is full of
instances in which God
protected His people—
always with His divine
purposes in mind.
• In Exodus 14:21-31,
God is described as

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kept him from entering
the service.
“I don’t understand
it,” Gaines said. “And yet
I do believe that we are
to pray for protection. …
In no way do I think we
prayed better than some
other group of people
who experienced trage-
dy. But I do believe that
all Christians ought to
engage in fervent prayer
for protection.”
Gaines said authorities
believe the man was delu-
sional, and it was unclear
what his motives were, but
Gaines is certain the po-
tential for bloodshed was
averted.
The right response to
such protection, Gaines
said, is thanksgiving
and praise.
“The Bible says in
Psalm 127, ‘Unless the
Lord builds the house,
they labor in vain who
build it. Unless the Lord
guards the city, the watch-
man keeps awake in vain’
(NASB). Ultimately, the
Lord is our protector.”
RIGHT ALIGNMENT,
RIGHT ASSIGNMENT
The character of God
is on full display in the
6,000 people each Sunday,
a greeter noticed a man
carrying what looked like
a partially concealed pis-
tol. She quickly notified
a security officer, who
stopped the man. After a
brief conversation with
the man, the off-duty
Memphis policeman
discovered that a bag the
man was carrying con-
tained a rifle and a large
amount of ammunition.
All the while, the third
service was delayed in
starting because a woman
had fallen and was re-
ceiving medical attention
near the sanctuary exit
the man was attempting
to enter. Her accident
in the life of believers. He
authored a book study,
Pray Like It Matters,
which is used in churches
across the country. And he
is certain prayer mattered
on Easter at Bellevue.
Some 75 people gath-
ered the Saturday before
Easter to plead for the
safety and spiritual con-
dition of each person
attending Easter services
the next day. Such prayer
over each seat in the wor-
ship center is a weekly
work of a small but com-
mitted team of church
members.
Prior to the final ser-
vice March 27 at Bellevue,
which draws more than
“When the servant of
God walks in faith and
obedience, they are
indestructible until
God’s plan for them has
come to completion.”
—Pastor Dale Evrist

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Ultimately, God has
the prerogative over our
life and death.
“And so,” Evrist says,
“we can take comfort in
knowing that if someone
is walking with God and
God’s plan for them really
has come to completion,
and that their life on this
earth is over, I can com-
pletely live with that.”
©2016 BGEA
UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED,
SCRIPTURES ARE TAKEN FROM
THE HOLY BIBLE, ENGLISH
STANDARD VERSION. BIBLE
VERSES MARKED NASB ARE
TAKEN BY PERMISSION FROM
THE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD
BIBLE, ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968,
1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
THE LOCKMAN FOUNDATION, LA
HABRA, CALIF.
“deliver us from evil.”
Again, Evrist empha-
sizes, “When the servant
of God walks in faith and
obedience, is the enemy
looking for ways to take
us out? Certainly. But I
really think in most cases
he needs our cooperation,
where we put ourselves in
harm’s way by not being
in the right place and do-
ing the right thing.
“When you really start
crunching the numbers,
you find that far and
away, most Christians can
point to a place where
God’s hand of protec-
tion was evident. You
can go through World
War I, World War II,
Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and
Afghanistan—so many
stories of people saying ‘I
shouldn’t be here today.
God’s hand really protect-
ed me.’”
Psalms. In Psalm 121:1-3,
the psalmist writes of
Israel: “I lift up my eyes
to the mountains—where
does my help come from?
My help comes from the
Lord, the Maker of heaven
and earth. He will not let
your foot slip—he who
watches over you will
not slumber.”
In the same way that
Israel had a divinely
ordained assignment to
bless the nations with
God’s salvation, each
believer has a God-
ordained assignment as
an ambassador of Christ
that includes promises
of protection.
Second Thessalonians
3:3 says, “But the Lord is
faithful. He will establish
you and guard you against
the evil one.” In His mod-
el prayer, Jesus teaches
the disciples to pray,

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PHOTOGRAPH: /ZUMA PRESS/NEWSCOM
trepidation amid Jackson
and her colleagues, Jack-
son felt an overwhelming
sense of peace cover her
like a blanket: “From that
moment on, God was a
very real presence to me,
as though He were hold-
ing my hand throughout
my entire escape.”
As the group descend-
ed the stairs, Jackson
found herself walking
window. She was waiting
for her turn to speak, but
at 8:46, horrific sights
overtook her senses and
captivated everyone in the
room.
American Airlines
flight 11 crashed into
the North Tower. This
screeching, flaming mass
of destruction would
change thousands of
lives—including Jack-
son’s.
Every-
one in the
conference
room had
been present
during the
1993 bomb-
ings, so they
wasted no
time in mov-
ing toward
the stairs.
While
there was
A LIFE SPARED
DURING A
NATIONAL TRAGEDY
Lolita Jackson had a
thriving career in the
financial industry and had
worked in the Twin Tow-
ers for several years. She
was there in 1993 when
the World Trade Center
was bombed, but noth-
ing earthly could have
prepared her for what she
would experience eight
years later.
On a clear Tues-
day morning—Sept. 11,
2001—Jackson attended a
departmental meeting in
a 70th floor South Tower
conference room, which
boasted a panoramic view
and faced the southern
portion of the North
Tower.
From where she sat,
she had a clear view to the
outside world through the
GLIMPSES OF GOD’S
SOVEREIGNTY
Three stories of the Father’s Hand of Protection
by Joy Allmond
Lolita Jackson
speaks at
Christian
conferences
and events
around the
country.

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Once she was two blocks
away, she turned around
to take in the chaos and
destruction around her.
As she stood in the
middle of the street—still
in shock—a man, whom
she knew, approached her
and urged her to get on a
subway, since she lived in
Manhattan and those sub-
ways were still running.
A few minutes later—at
9:50—she walked down
the subway stairs to catch
what she would find out
later was the last train
home.
At 9:59 the first build-
ing collapsed.
Had Jackson not taken
the man’s stern warn-
ing, she could have been
trapped and suffocated by
the smoldering ashes or
struck by crashing debris.
She later learned that
her colleague Robert—
who had stayed on the
59th floor to call his
wife—was killed. Just
minutes after Jackson
entered an elevator to go
to the skylobby, Robert
had followed suit.
The second plane hit
the building while Robert
was on the elevator, snap-
ping the elevator cable.
fall over. Jackson believed
she was going to die; yet,
she had a supernatural
calmness in her spirit.
“I knew that if I were
to die at that moment, I
would be OK and would
go to Heaven. I had
never viscerally felt that
before,” she said. “Then
the building righted itself
and I absolutely knew I
was going to get out. I was
perfectly calm.”
After the building
settled, everyone around
Jackson gravitated toward
the same staircase. She
was immediately re-
minded—from her 1993
experience—that the
escape would be slowed
if everyone attempted to
use the same exit route,
so she opened the door to
a different staircase and
signaled for others to join
her there.
Several dozen people
accompanied her as she
descended the staircase
closest to the point of
impact.
Jackson was out of the
building at 9:26. She
heeded instructions to
refrain from looking up or
using her cellphone, and
to simply keep walking.
with a colleague named
Robert as he unsuccess-
fully tried to call his
wife from the staircase,
which was surrounded by
concrete.
Once Jackson, Robert
and the others reached
the 59th floor, they were
instructed to exit the
staircase and take the
elevator to the 44th floor
“skylobby.”
Robert wanted to
continue trying to get in
touch with his wife, so
he told Jackson he was
slipping into an empty
office to find better phone
reception. As she started
to accompany him, she
heard a voice say, Don’t go
with him!
She knew—without a
doubt—that she heard the
voice of God.
Jackson then took the
elevator to the 44th floor
skylobby, where she saw
hundreds of her building
mates awaiting further
instructions. At 9:03, the
second plane struck the
World Trade Center—this
time, their building.
The South Tower
moved a few feet in one
direction and the building
felt as though it would

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thought that entered
my mind was Jesus. All
I could say was, ‘Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus.’”
Several minutes later,
Etheridge was carried off
the field on a stretcher
as he gave a thumbs-up,
signaling that he was
coherent and eliciting
cheers from the fans.
It was discovered at
the hospital that Ether-
idge suffered a cracked
fifth vertebrae and torn
ligaments in his neck. But
more important, it was
also discovered that the
supernatural intuition
that kept Scott lying still
also kept Etheridge from
permanent paralysis—or
worse.
Because that day
marked an intensely trau-
matic moment in his life,
Etheridge doesn’t like to
re-live it. But at the same
time, he can’t help but tell
During a game against
the Ole Miss Rebels in
Auburn’s Jordan-Hare
Stadium, Etheridge—then
a safety for the Tigers—
collided with Rebels run-
ning back Rodney Scott.
As a result of the
collision Etheridge landed
on top of Scott and was
not moving. Both instinct
and training tell football
players to get up off the
ground as quickly as
possible. But Scott had a
counterintuitive sense to
lie still.
“I waited for him to get
up, but I just think it was
God in me telling me not
to move,” remembered
Scott. “That’s all it could
have been—God making
me wait.”
The crowd in the stadi-
um was stunned to silence
as they gazed at what ap-
peared to be two lifeless
bodies. Players from both
teams knelt in prayer as
medical personnel rushed
the field to examine
Etheridge and Scott.
“A lot of people
thought I was un-
conscious, but I was
awake the whole time,”
Etheridge said. “I felt
everything. But the first
Jackson realized that if
she had not heeded God’s
protective instruction not
to go with Robert, she
would have died in that
elevator.
“The realization of
that—of God clearly
keeping me out of harm’s
way—changed me forev-
er,” she said.
“In the darkest
moment I knew He was
right there, and that is
something I always know,
every day.” D
JACKSON’S STORY WAS ADAPT-
ED FROM THE BOOK MIRACLES
BY ERIC METAXAS.
RUNNING BACK HEARS
GOD, BRINGS ‘SAFETY’
TO OPPONENT
Like many mothers
who fear life-altering
injury, Cassandra Kelly
never wanted her kids to
play football.
But her son, Zac
Etheridge, not only played
football, he was recruited
by one of the country’s
top programs, Auburn
University.
And on Oct. 31, 2009,
Kelly’s worst fear ap-
peared to come true.
ABOVE
Zac Etheridge
and Rodney Scott
lie on the field
after their
collision on
Oct. 31, 2009.
PHOTOGRAPH: AP PHOTO/BUTCH DILL

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3
of Pehe, it appeared as
though the American
missionaries took the side
of the Gios,” said Kim.
“Harboring our friends
was a split-second deci-
sion we had to make, but
we didn’t regret it. And in
the moment, you realize
how much power one
split-second decision can
have over your future.”
Shortly after the Ab-
ernethys barricaded their
friends inside, it became
dark, and the angry mob
that followed John grew
to more than 400 people.
The mob surrounded
their home, demanding
they give over the “trai-
tor.”
Mark and Nancy Shep-
pard, the visiting couple,
also had three children.
The situation became so
dire that the four adults
covered the window in
one of the bedrooms and
placed all six children un-
wait for the bus that would
take them on a two-hour
trip back to the Liberian
border town where they
lived.
While they waited for
the bus, a local heard John
talking to his son in their
Gio dialect. The Krahn
tribesman pointed his
finger at John and said, “I
know you. You killed my
mother. You are Gio. You
will die today.”
That’s all it took to
start a frenzy. Within
minutes, John, who was
innocent, and his son
were surrounded by a
mob threatening to kill
them. Someone broke up
the crowd long enough
to allow John and his
son to get a head start on
running back to the Ab-
ernethys’ house—where
they were having dinner
with another missionary
family.
As the two Gio men
approached the mission-
aries’ house, Kim heard
yelling getting louder as
the people from the bus
stop were running behind
them. Once John and his
son were inside, she closed
and locked the door.
“To the townspeople
of the Father’s great love
and protection.
“My mother has always
loved the Lord. And she’s
always prayed for me,”
said Etheridge. “There’s
no doubt that God heard
her many prayers for me
and protected me because
of them.”
A DRAMATIC MISSION-
ARY RESCUE IN THE
AFRICAN BUSH
It was 1991, and the
Liberian civil war—begun
largely due to a conflict
between the Gio and
Krahn tribes—was at full
throttle.
Missionaries Jeff and
Kim Abernethy were liv-
ing with their three young
daughters in Pehe, Ivory
Coast—the town of the
Krahn tribe—to minister to
Liberian refugees.
Their friend John, a
man born into the Gio
tribe, traveled with his son
to visit the Abernethys in
Pehe. After several hours
with his American friends,
John and his son walked
back to the main road to
PHOTOGRAPH: COURTESY OF KIM ABERNETHY

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driver, “You can go, but
when the white men bring
out the traitor, they all die.
We will burn the car with
them all inside.”
The bus was stopped,
so Wilson took the oppor-
tunity to jump off, run to
the missionary house and
warn his friends.
“When Wilson came to
our home and told us this
harrowing story, Jeff and
Mark just looked at each
other in silence,” Kim said,
tears of gratitude pooling
in her eyes. “While Wilson
was still there, the police
came and sent everyone
away. We still do not
know how they learned of
our situation.
“Had the car started,
all four of them would
have been killed at the
hands of the angry mob
that awaited them at the
bus stop,” she said.
“All these years later,
we are still stunned by
God’s grace and mercy.”
©2016 BGEA
He felt God had heard
him, so Mark tried start-
ing the car again. Nothing.
Feeling hopeless, the
men ran back inside,
dodging the increasingly
restless crowd.
“There was a brief mo-
ment when the deceiver
whispered, ‘You thought
He heard you,’” Kim said.
By then the crowd was at
the windows and the door,
screaming, yelling and de-
termined to kill John and
anyone else they could.
Then someone began
pounding on the door.
It was Wilson, one of
their interpreters, who
happened to be from the
Krahn tribe. As it turns
out, the pastor who ini-
tially calmed the mob had
sent Wilson to the next
town to get the police.
Wilson had boarded a
bus to get the authorities,
but he didn’t make it.
About half a mile out of
town there was a road-
block; some of the angry
townspeople started a
bonfire in the middle of
the road.
When the bus ap-
proached the roadblock,
Wilson heard one of
the locals say to the bus
der the bed for protection.
“Things got so om-
inous,” Kim said. “The
mob started throwing
torches and stones at the
windows.”
The missionary men
sent for a local pastor—
born into the Krahn tribe—
to come over and diffuse
the rage. The pastor finally
got the crowd to agree to
step back and let John and
his son leave, unharmed.
Jeff and Mark decided
they would drive John
and his son to the bus
stop. Mark brought the
car through the crowd
around to the front of the
house so the others could
enter safely. Meanwhile,
Jeff and Kim prayed to-
gether and hugged.
“I don’t know when I’ll
see you again,” Jeff told
Kim. “Be brave.” As the
men moved through the
mob, it parted like the Red
Sea. Theygotin the car and
Mark turned the key.
The car wouldn’t start.
Jeff, a skilled mechan-
ic, got out and checked
under the hood. Every-
thing seemed fine. He
looked up to the heavens
and cried out to God for
help—and for protection.