A Good Night's Sleep

We have become a generation of people who are obsessed with safety.  From the time our children are born, we work to keep them safe.  We measure the distance between the slats in their crib.  We buy the right car seat and have someone teach us how to install it properly.  We teach them about “stranger danger”.  Never are they allowed to get on a bicycle without the admonition to “put your helmet on!”

While there is nothing wrong with this, it does create the illusion that if we do all of these things, we will be safe.  The problem with this is that there will always be something we miss, something just outside of our control, something that never occurred to us.  When we depend on our own actions and devices, safety is an illusion.  Just when we begin to feel secure, we forget that it may well be that a drunk driver has gotten behind the wheel of a car, the tornado season hits, or a fanatic gets on an airplane.

“I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”  Psalm 4:8

The key to actually being safe rests with trust in God alone.  Only He knows the future.  Only He controls the wind. In His hand alone do we rest.  Understanding this creates a great deal of freedom and peace for the believer.  Because we understand that God in His very nature is good and trustworthy, and because we know that He causes all things to work together for our good, we can relax and enjoy this adventure called life.  Whatever we go through, we can rest in peace because we know that we are secure in Him.  Whatever life brings, we will not face it alone, and when it ends, eternity is secured for us.

As we continue to remind our kids to put a helmet on, we can also remind them to take chances, to risk rejection, to love others, to share the love of God with those around them.  We can lead by example, well rested, and at peace.

         Note: Last week we talked about life verses. I would love it if you would share yours with me and my readers. We can encourage each other!

Truly Safe

Do you remember where you were when the twin towers in New York City collapsed on 9/11, twelve years ago? Many of you were children. Perhaps what you remember is a feeling, an overwhelming sadness that you didn’t understand. I was getting ready to go to work. I turned on the television for background noise. I couldn’t turn away. I remember watching, horrified, as I saw the second plane hit the second tower, and seeing it collapse down upon itself. I hurried in to work, mostly to be with other people who could verify that what I was seeing was real. I worked then in a public high school, and the place was eerily quiet. We followed what was happening on our computers.

I learned two things that day:

1.     Security is an illusion. Since then we have implemented the Homeland Security Act, beefed up TSA, and allowed innumerable encroachments on our freedoms, all in the name of security. The truth is, if a person is determined to cause mayhem and pain, he will find a way. The only security in this life is to trust in God.

“Do not put your trust in princes (or presidents), in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them – the Lord, who remains faithful forever.” Psalm 147:1

2.     We need each other.  Think how different that day would have been if the people of New York had lived up to their reputation as cold loners. The whole world looked on, wishing they could do something to help. The people of New York were our hands and feet in those first hours. We are created for community.  We are better together than we are alone.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and had no one to help him up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one many be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

People ask me where God was on that horrific day. We know where he was; he was there, embodied by the many men and women who reached out to help, risking their own lives. He was there comforting the dying and strengthening the rescuers. He was there feeding and loving and weeping right along with us. God doesn’t always prevent evil men from the terrible things they devise; we wish he would. Instead, he works through us, his body, to comfort and lift each other up.

We are afraid of so many things. God wants us to take shelter in him, remembering that he is our only security. He wants us to reach out to each other. It is in sharing our stories, in remembering those who were lost and the heroic people who acted that day that God is glorified and evil is overcome. It is in sharing our fears today that God can overcome them. We can rest in him.

What are you afraid of? Find someone and share. Lay your fears down.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear…” Psalm 91:1-5