Can I Handle Safety?

  I really dislike the word safe; so naturally that is exactly what God has been prompting me to accept about Him. I grew up in church; from before I can remember until I graduated high school, church was a stable presence in my life. But it wasn’t necessarily a safe place; I learned that very quickly. My first church memory is of kids chanting, “Heather doesn’t have a daddy.” It was quickly stopped but the imprint was there; I could be hurt at church, and more importantly by church people. Fast forward to becoming a pastor’s kid; church was definitely not safe! Lol, I mean that with some humor but there is truth. People telling you that your dad preaches too long or not long enough; mom doesn’t sing songs the way they like it etc. Word of advice, PK’s are probably some of the most perceptive and discerning kids, so be careful what is said around them, they pick up on the non-verbal cues like an English teacher looking for grammatical errors! We have to, it’s a learned survival skill for most. Not that our church was bad, it really wasn’t; but it wasn’t perfect either.
 
 Over the years I’ve learned that even my home isn’t necessarily safe. I’ve invited people into it that weren’t safe, so clearly I couldn’t be trusted with my own safety. My car and apartment were broken into and burglarized. I’ve had fights and so much stress that finally led to a mental breakdown; clearly not safe. My given career fields were not considered safe ever: military cop, prison guard, security guard, detention officer, even the most recent, health technician in a behavioral health ward. In fact, I picked them because they weren’t safe. It’s really no wonder that I cringe when people say the word safe. It’s also no shock that this is where God wants to prove Himself true.
 
 Psalm 3:5 (TPT) “So now I’ll lie down and sleep like a baby – then I’ll awake in safety, for you surround me with your glory.” King David wrote this about God while he was on the run from his own son, Absalom. It appeared that everyone had turned against him, including his eldest child, but yet he still felt safe enough in God to state, “So now I’ll lie down and sleep like a baby.” Not like a man on the run, which he was, but like a child with no fear! David trusted in God’s safety and he knew that it didn’t come from a building, army, and clearly not his own family. He knew that God is safety. How could he be so confident in God keeping him safe?

   I looked up the definition of safety and it’s pretty much what I expected to see: free from harm or risk, secure from threat, danger, or harm. However this can’t be what King David meant when he composed, “All I need to do is call to you, singing to you, the praiseworthy God. When I do, I’m safe and sound in you” Psalms 18:3 (TPT). Clearly there is a misconception or misinterpretation of our word, safe. So I went farther back, to what the Greek word for safe is and there are a lot! But the most common Greek word for safe is soteria, which is the same word for salvation. King David lived a life of much danger: a death sentence from Saul, hiding in caves, multiple wars, and eventually his own child trying to kill him; definitely not the epitome of safe! But he was, not because threats and bad things never happened to him, but because his trusted the Lord for his salvation.
 
 We can’t live a life with no risk, it’s impossible. I could step outside and a meteor could smash me, or I could login to a computer and have all my information stolen, ruining my financial life. Threats are everywhere; not to be scary, but it’s a fact. However, I look to God for my safety (salvation) and He has promised that He will hear and see me. My safety therefore cannot be not in cyber security, ADT, locks, walls, or heck, even landmines; it is in my God. “He alone is my safe place; his wrap-around presence always protects me. For he is my champion defender; there’s no risk of failure with God. So why would I let worry paralyze me, even when troubles multiply around me?” Psalms 62:2 (TPT). God is safe, because He is salvation; and that is perfect safety.