Security

I spent the afternoon with my littlest grandson Sam yesterday (a year old) . Figured I had an open afternoon and I seldom get to have him all by myself so I called and OKed it with mom and went by the house and grabbed him. He was the first to come toddling to the door when I knocked, huge smile carrying his covered snack cup of cheerios. I grabbed him , hugged him, loved on him a minute and off we went. No diaper bag ...no baggage...I had stuff at home....just Sam and I, and he was delighted to get to be going in the car, he didn't care where he was going...just knew who he was with...and that it was an outing. It was a pretty uneventful afternoon, we swam a little, ate a little, played with the dog, dropped rocks into a big ozarka bottle, visited with cousins who popped over and checked out the kitchen cabinets and drawers.

But this morning as I was reflecting on my time with my little friend, it occurred to me that wherever I went in the house, he just followed. As long as I was in sight, it mattered not where we were but just that we were together. His little security laid in who he was with not in where he was, or what was going on around him. What a visual of how Christ wants us to be. Secure in Him no matter what situation is flying around us. As long as we follow him, and keep our eyes on him and know in all confidence that he will not run from us or hide from us, we are eased of the anxiety of tackling life alone. We are to be followers of Christ. Secure in the fact that Christ is with us at all times and in all places, And as long as we hang tight to what we know, that Christ is in reach and close, we are able to go about our journey on confidence. It is when we take our eyes off of him or try to make way down our own path that we get lost and disoriented, and scared.

Security is freedom:
1) freedom from danger, risk, 2) freedom from care, anxiety, or doubt; well-founded confidence.
3) something that secures or makes safe; protection; defense.

I have always tended to think of security of a dependence and in reading the definitions above from the dictionary security is quite the opposite. It is freedom. And that makes so much sense when we consider Christ as our secured fortress.
I know the following Chapter in Psalm is long....but if you read it and absorb it, these are words of security for each of us.
Look at the verbs...these are active words of truth for us today: Rest, Trust, Cover, Not Fear, Observe, Lift, Command, Tread, Trample, Rescue, Protect, Call, Answer, Deliver, Satisfy and Show. Christ covers it all, and it is in this security that we can truly rest.

Psalm 91
Whoever 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 say, "The LORD is my refuge," and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake 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 on 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 on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

I don't know what has broken your heart lately or what has given you great anxiety or what has left you unsteady in your stance or beliefs or confidence in yourself or with others, but I do know that this security that Christ offers is real. And when we embrace it, it does give us freedom from the emotions that tend to bind us from receiving Christ's intended hope and joy.

Just as my litttle Sam trusted me in confidence, and followed me wherever I led him, we are to trust Christ and follow him wherever he leads us. Some of those places will be darkened rooms of grief and silence, some rooms filled with overwhelming joy, while others will have no apparent signature of reason....but we can be assured that as long as we are traveling with Christ, and following the path that he has laid out before us, we will be blessed by the assurance that we are secure in His wake.

Dear Lord, We all want and need security. Help us to lean not on our own understanding but learn to walk in your ways. For there is where we will find a security that prevents us from catering to the winds of anxiousness or fear, or being overwhelmed by trials that are before us, or tempted by worldly distractions. Lord, please help us to embrace this freedom that comes graced by your security. Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . His glory will shine through!