Insecurity

 

From the time we enter this world, if not before, even in the womb, we long for security. We want to feel safe and protected. This is part of what being a responsible parent means: giving your child your protection. That means physical and emotional. If a child grows up in an unstable environment with yelling and fighting, the child will be insecure. That insecurity will follow them into adulthood. Every child deserves to feel safe and that mommy and daddy will care for me. They will be here today, tomorrow, and every day. That is security.

Bullies are often very insecure, and they are fighting for their place. They lord it over those weaker, all for the reward of being seen as someone powerful. The truth is they don’t feel powerful, and they don’t feel accepted.

Appearances of security are an illusion when it comes to King Saul. He was overwhelmed with fear. Listen to him address his servants: “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? (1 Samuel 22:7). Notice Saul’s servants were all from his tribe. They are probably the only ones that Saul trusts. This is the way of kings and dictators. Who can you trust? He believes that everyone around him is conspiring against him. This is insecurity out of control. He has everything he wants except security. Saul is an incoherent, ranting, desperate man. There was no evidence whatsoever that his servants contemplated any form of disloyalty. Saul, however, was in the grip of his fears that had nothing to do with facts or reality.

We receive an invaluable gift from our father and mother if we grow up feeling secure. If we do not, we will struggle to find our security throughout this life. You can find it, however, in Jesus. He will be your refuge, and he brings security to your life. Jesus introduces you to the Father who will never fail you--Your Heavenly Father!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Soon As I Can See What God Is Doing

I don’t know about you, but I can’t count the times I have said I wish I knew what God was doing. This is our greatest challenge as Christians to trust God with our future when we don’t see how things fit together. We have to trust and wait, and that is hard to do.

I am encouraged to see that David felt the same. As a fugitive from King Saul, I should add mad King Saul. He was trying to kill David even though David had not done anything worthy of death. In fact, David had been a model soldier and son-in-law. But Saul was jealous of who David was, and he wanted that for himself but wasn’t willing to pay the price for it. David was on the run, and he was worried that his family would be targets of Saul’s death squads. So he went to the King of Moab and asked if his mother and father could say there, “until I learn what God will do for me?” (1 Sam 22:3). There is that confusion and wonder of what God is up to.

How we wish God would tell us—show us—anything, just let me know God. David, however, shows that he is confident that God will show him in time. Notice the phrase “until I learn what God will do for me.” He didn’t know, but he believed that he would learn, and even then, God was at work teaching him.

Though David was uncertain about “what God will do for me.” He was confident that God would take care of him and that His purpose would be fulfilled, but he did not know how. In this Psalm written during this time, he states: “I cry out to God Most High, to God, who vindicates me” (Ps 57:2). David says God has a purpose for my life, and I will one day see it.

David’s outlook will help all of us. To believe that God is working out his purpose in our lives when it doesn’t feel like it is to put our faith to work.