Safety Girl

Security is not the absence of danger but the presence of God

You know, I used to be big into safety and all; wear your helmet, don’t get too close to the edge; chew your food slowly, keep your hands tucked under your pillow at night so people don’t shoot poison up your fingernails and then no one would be able to figure out how you died (check out tomorrow’s ‘member that time if you’re wondering), and don’t do anything risky.

But now, after living for 43 years and hanging out with God more and more, I have ceased letting fear (and therefore safety) rule my life.  I more fully understand God’s sovereignty lately and realize that His purposes will prevail whether I wear my helmet or not. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I all for being wise when it comes to cliffs and germs and large angry dogs, but I realize my ultimate protection comes from above.  I’ve decided to believe God when he says that He will protect me.  And when I am feeling unprotected, I choose to believe that all things work together for good—God’s good. Maybe sometimes God’s good is different from Tori’s perceived good, and maybe sometimes God’s good looks unsafe and scary.  But because I have learned to trust God like a child trusts a loving parent, I can now be at peace with the path God takes me upon—not always happy or comfortable, but peaceful. 

And I have also learned that God sometimes wants me to jump into His will when His will is extreme and inconvenient and unpopular.  These are the times when He asks me to bypass my instinct of self-preservation and obey Him with reckless abandon.  These are the times when I must rely on Him alone because I am not enough—but He is.  For He has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7).

So, I’m going to use this sound mind I’ve got, and I’m going believe in God’s control, and even if someone does come in and shoot poison up my fingernails when I’m sleeping, I’m Ok with that, cause I’ll be sleeping and I won’t even know!  Whew! 

It’s so nice not to worry. 

Try it you’ll like it.

 

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 the terror of night,
   nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
   nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
   ten thousand at your right hand,
   but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
   and see the punishment of the wicked.

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.

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
   I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
   I will be with him in trouble,
   I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
   and show him my salvation.”

Psalm 91