The Safest Place To Be

A California woman in the city of Colusa was violently awakened from a deep sleep.

What happened? A mountain lion crashed through her bedroom window and landed right on top of her. The woman had the presence of mind to open the front door of her home through which the big cat escaped. At first, the woman thought she was dreaming. But security cameras assured her that this was no dream. They captured the mountain lion dodging traffic and breaking into other buildings on her street. Fortunately, no one was harmed.

Safety

Where can a person be safe? You’d figure one would be safe under the covers in their own bedroom, certainly safe from something as outlandish and strange as a mountain lion crashing through your bedroom window.

But, honestly, we’re mistaken if we believe that our circumstances ultimately determine the measure of our safety or danger. We routinely make the error of believing that sometimes we are safer than at others, or more at risk than at others. In truth—when it comes to our desperate need of God for life, health, and protection—we are always “in waters way over our heads.” We always need God. No matter what our circumstances may be, our lives and safety depend just as heavily upon God. We may feel safer at home and under the covers, rather than in the fury of Interstate traffic.

Protection at All Times

But our circumstances do not determine our measure of protection. God does. Our life and our breath—even our very existence—all hang upon God every moment of the day. When we acknowledge our need for God and seek His protection, then we are safer in the terror of battle than we could possibly be at home and under the covers without His protection.

I have read stories of people falling out of bed and breaking their necks. I have also read many stories who have fallen from the tops of buildings and from airplanes—without a parachute—and survive with hardly a scratch. God is not hindered from protecting us by adverse circumstances. Beneficial circumstances can not ever serve as a substitute for God’s protection.

God, the Safest Place

God, as our Provider, can meet our needs as faithfully and adequately in times of famine as He can in times of plenty. As our Healer and personal Physician, He can keep us far healthier when we are without any health insurance, as He can with the best medical care humanity can provide. And God, as our Protector and Defender, can keep us as safe in war as easily as He can in the comfort of home. Like Jonathan, the warrior, observed, “It is no more difficult for the LORD to grant victory by means of a few than it is by means of many” (1 Samuel 14:6, NAB). God, not our circumstances, determines whether we live or die. Let us, therefore, flee into His loving embrace and cling to Him for all we need. The safest place to be is in God’s loving arms.

PRAYER:

Dear Father in heaven, here and now, I acknowledge my own weakness and Your omnipotent power. I need You, Father, for my life, my breath, and my very existence. You are the One who keeps my heart beating, my lungs breathing, and every cell in my body functioning—all without any help from me. I trust You, O God, with my life and eternal soul. Please save and protect me at all times. Make me an instrument of Your peace in the lives of others. Amen.