Recently, a friend has been voicing a fear she has about where our family lives. She says she is concerned for our safety and the amount of crime that is here.
I have been boggled by this concern as we have lived here for 5 years and there has not been anything that has harmed us or caused excess worry. So I have been contemplating why I feel safe and not concerned as she is.
Last night it dawned on me that the safety I feel isn't because we make ourselves safe or the size of our fence, but that God has kept us from the evil around us.
To further cement this in my mind I read Psalm 147 this morning and it caused me to praise God for his safety. Like the Israelites I desire to say, "Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you. He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat... He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his rules. Praise the LORD!"
So I praise the Lord for his protection and rules. I thank him for keeping us safe in his hand and letting us fear and love him. I pray that I can share this with my friend and that she will see how God cares for his own and find his peace in her heart as well.
Mhm. My mom freaked out when I wanted to go on a mission trip as a teenager for a whole summer to three countries. Then she realized that God could do a better job taking care of me than she could. And I was following Him. I understand your friend's concern, but I also understand your life in your hood. The flip side is that we can be unsafe anywhere, crime can be so random. But so many of us want to be "comfortable." We think that we are somehow entitled to it. I've been "comfortable" and it's not really a growing place, which is where I want to be.
ReplyDeleteWe have to be where God has called us to be. And sometimes that isn't "comfortable" or "safe." But we know our comfort and safety lies in God alone--not in society. Blessings on your lighthouse.
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfect verse to remind us our safety and satisfaction is in Christ alone!
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