Your safety may be an illusion
My
sister’s situation a few days ago illustrates how we can feel safe when in fact
we are oblivious to great danger. In
America, we are obsessed with safety. We
take out insurance policies on everything to protect ourselves from risk and we
blanch at the thought of exposing our children to risky situations.
My
sister lives in a nice upscale neighborhood in Santa Barbara, but last
Thursday, she discovered that her next door neighbor had a secret. Saturday’s
paper carried the story:
BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER
Santa Barbara Police seized a hefty arsenal of 134 guns, 800 pounds of
ammunition and 13 swords from a home in the 1300 block of Salsipuedes St.
Thursday. Nearby residents called police fearing the man living there, who has
Parkinson’s Disease, could hurt himself.Police Det. Jaycee Hunter said “We don’t come across that very often.” He said the 65-year-old man
was cooperative with police, but couldn’t recall much more than his name.
Whether
you have a kooky neighbor or you’ve got your investments tied up in real estate
that is crashing, life is much riskier than you realize. The same day that news of my sister’s neighbor’s
armory appeared in the paper, the comedian Bernie Mac (who was my age – 50) died of pneumonia,
and John Edwards’ hypocrisy destroyed his political career. Life is full of risk.
Ultimately,
the greatest risk we take is in not taking the time to do business with
a God
who created us and wants us to trust him in reaching out to a hurting
world. It’s
amazing how many of us are building our lives on the sand of perceived
independence and short-term security when the very foundations of our
life are precarious. What foundations are you building on – where is
your security?
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Wow. Good questions to ask dad. Thanks for sharing. And poor Aunt Christie!! Jee willy, that blows my mind.
We unfortunatly spend most of our life here building our own “thing”dom not His Kingdom! Real security only comes from Kingdom living!!!
wow…so close to home. love you dad.
A good christian friend of mine got up one morning, kissed his wife and son goodbye and headed off for work. He never made it.To this day the police are unsure of how the accident happened as no body else was involved.
When I recieved the phone call to say he had been killed in an “accident” I cried out to God “WHY Lord!! Why!!!!” I just could not make sense of how a young guy, following God with a lovely christian wife and child could die, why would God allow that?
The Lord spoke every clearly to me that day “Trust me” He said “I know what I am doing”
Later that day I saw heaven opened and my friend entering heaven. The look on his face was class! One minute he was going to work, the next he is standing face to face with the God he has loved and served since he was a teenager. He was grinning from ear to ear trying to take in this new life, it was a look of disbelief that he was finaly there and an over whelming joy. There were people coming up to him left right and centre welcoming him, huggging him. It was the best home coming scene I have ever witnessed in my life.
The bible says “our days are numbered” We will not live one more day than we should do, God has EVERYTHING under control.I know of people who have seriously attempted suicide but are still alive despite all the odds. God says when we die, not us.Therefore we should not live in fear of what is round the corner, or what is on our streets. We should have no fear of the “what if’s” or the “if only”. This kind of thinking will drive you crazy.
There should be no fear of death….the ultimate fear that man has. Jesus has dealt with it. Pray for one another’s protection from harm, from the enemys arrows, from his deceptive ways that can pull you away from Jesus. But as for guys kitted out ready to start a war in your neighbourhood, dont worry!
Seth, thanks for writing this! It really hit close to home today and is reminding me to take life as it comes and not be wrapped up in my illusions of security.