In Mosiah 13, King Noah and his people react to the preaching of Abinadi by attempting to put him to death. However, Abinadi halts their attempt with these words:

“Touch me not, for God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me, for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver … therefore, God will not suffer that I shall be destroyed at this time.” (Mosiah 13:3)

The people of King Noah felt the power of God emanating from Abinadi, so they backed off and let him finish his message.

The protection of God was upon Abinadi while he was doing the work of the Lord. Even if the people had tried to kill him, they would have been unsuccessful. As you know if you’ve read the rest of the story, this protection only lasted for the period of time that Abinadi was delivering the message; once the message was completed, the people were then free to do whatever they wanted to do with him. However, during the time of that message, Abinadi was untouchable.

If you are a worker for the Lord, you are eligible to receive similar protection from God while you are working for Him.

For example, in my 30 years in the ministry, I have visited many hospitals as well as homes of sick people to anoint the sick. I can testify that in all those years, I have never caught as much as a sniffle from any of the sick people that I anointed. They cough, they sneeze, they blow their nose, they are hot with fever — I can sense the germs and bacteria all around me. Yet, I absolutely feel God’s protection surrounding me, keeping all these sources of infection away during the time that I am doing God’s work.

There, of course, have been occasions when I have caught illnesses from other people, but those were during the normal course of life.

This brings up an important distinction to understand — the protection of God being described here lasts only long enough to complete the task that God has assigned you to do. If we try to extend it to our entire lives, thinking that this absolute protection is always upon us as servants of God, we will be disappointed. We are all subject to the normal trials of life, be it illness, injury, or death, sadly sometimes even unexpected, tragic death.

When any of these trials of life occur, it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love us or doesn’t care. It just shows that God is not a respecter of persons, so we are all subject to the same trials of life as anybody else.

However, there will be those special occasions when God assigns you a specific task to do. When He does, approach it with confidence. If He has indeed assigned you to do something, then He will intervene as necessary to hold back whatever forces may seek to bring injury during the time that the assignment is being completed.

So, fear not! Do the work that God has given you to do, and He will protect you while you work.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.