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.  Psalms 91:9-10

The day started like most other days. I began with devotions and enjoyed reading Psalm 91. As I closed my Bible and proceeded with the work for the day I was unaware that what I had read would soon come true.

It was harvest time at our farm, Murray’s Brae, in Kwazulu-Natal. Pulling on my work clothes I went out to the workshop, collected a ladder, and set off to pick avocados in a tree near the water tower. I soon had the 24-foot ladder in place and had just climbed to the top when the ladder snapped in half. Despite the speed with which these mishaps happen everything seemed to occur in slow motion. For as I fell my body was “caught” in the air and gently laid down in the dirt below. That’s the only way I can describe it. I was deposited flat on my back and there was no pain at all. No broken bones, no scratches, and I wasn’t even winded. Without a moments hesitation I stood up, brushed myself off, and said, “Thanks Lord.” For I knew without any measure of a doubt that I had just been “caught” by the angels and carefully lowered to the ground.

Later that same day I was in a pasture checking on the cattle when a night adder crossed the path directly in front of me. Although a bite from a night adder doesn’t usually cause death in an adult, the venom can nonetheless cause severe localized pain and swelling. I was in a dangerous situation. Apart from open sandals my feet and bare legs were unprotected. Yet I felt no fear. Without hesitation I crushed the viper’s head beneath my heel.

On the way back to the farmhouse I was deep in thought about the incident when I nearly stepped on a second night adder. It was unbelievable! It seemed as if they were out to get me. For night adders, as indicated by their name, are usually nocturnal. But that’s neither here nor there. The important thing is I once again managed to trample the snake to death before it could strike.

Some would say it was just my lucky day. I disagree. Luck had nothing to do with it. God protected me. Psalm 91:9-13 tells it like it is, “If you make the Most High your dwelling – even the Lord, who is my refuge – then no harm will befall 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 upon the lion and the cobra, you will trample the great lion and the serpent.”