Brother's (and Sister's) Keeper

One thing that I've realized about myself as I've gotten older is that I'm fairly protective of people that I love. I'm wary of things that I think are less than the best for my family and my friends, and I get especially upset when things hurt them. In a lot of ways, I think I try my best to be the ultimate brother's (or sister's) keeper with people that I love - except in my version, being a good keeper means preventing pain from entering the lives of people I love. As I was thinking about this concept today, I was drawn to the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. In the story, Cain asks God if he is his brother's keeper after he kills his brother Abel. While reading the story again, I couldn't help but ask myself, who was Abel's keeper? The most logical response seems to be God, and yet Abel is still killed by his brother Cain. What does it mean for God to be our keeper and the keeper of those we love? A couple good verses I found address the topic:

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I feel from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast - Psalm 139: 7-12

For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory. - Deuteronomy 20:4

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord - Isaiah 55:8

From these verses, it seems to be that God promises to be present with us and to fight for us. At the same time, not all of God's decisions regarding our own welfare will make sense to us (a lot of times things I thought were a bad idea at the time were actually wonderful gifts from God). I think the biggest thing about God being a brother's keeper is this:

I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. - Jeremiah 31:3

As our keeper, God promises to love us with an everlasting love. Everything else may change, but this is always constant. I want to leave you all with an awesome song about God's unchanging, keeping love by Paul Coleman: The One Thing.