Friends in Christ Weekly Message
June 29, 2013

You, Lord, are all I want!
You are my choice, and you keep me safe.
Psalm 16:5 (CEV*)

How does the Lord keep us safe?

Does the Lord keep us safe from physical harm? Illness? Persecution? Financial problems?

If you look at the Biblical record, and of those living now who are faithful Christians, you might find this difficult to answer. There are plenty of instances where it does appear that the Lord intervenes to prevent physical harm, prevent or cure illness, keep us from being persecuted, protect our financial solvency, etc. But it is also clear that faithful Christians may suffer all sorts of things.

So keeping us safe can't mean that we can be absolutely sure we will never suffer physical injury, illness, persecution, financial difficulties, etc. We have to dig deeper to find the meaning of this promise.

If we truly have faith, we can feel safe regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. We are confident that we are in the hands of a loving God. We are secure because God is with us (the prophet said about Jesus that "he will be called Immanuel" which means "God is with us." - Matthew 1:23) and will never abandon us.

We can try to gain security in this world by accumulating wealth, living behind locked doors, etc. But nothing can completely prevent bad things from happening to us. Even so, if the Lord is really our choice, we can have a deep sense of security that transcends our outward circumstances.

Perhaps you have run across people in your life whose outward circumstances seem somewhat grim, but who approach life with a sense of security and contentment. If you get to know them, you may find the Lord is all they want, and is their choice.

What or whom do you want? Have you made a choice to trust God in everything? Do you rely upon God to give you a feeling of safety in all circumstances?

Bill Samuel

* Contemporary English Version ©1995 American Bible Society.

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