Safety

It was a good weekend. I completed my first IMPACT retreat (aka got to hang out with a bunch of cool kids and learned about God), ran my first half marathon, and went to a Phil Wickham concert - or an awesome time of worship that Phil Wickham led. Those are the best kinds of concerts - the ones where you forget who's actually leading it and focus more on Who it's all ultimately about.

A theme that seemed to show up a couple of times over the weekend was that of safety.

What is safety? Is it financial security for you and your family? A top-notch security system that will protect your home from intruders? Is it wearing your seatbelt in the car, rinsing with flouride to protect your teeth from decay, or locking away your social security card and passport in a fireproof box? Is it a comfortable life in a suburban home where you can't see the homeless man living in a cardboard box over the fence, is it being warm in the winters and cool in the summers? Is it having friends, being happy, getting the job you've always wanted, or achieving some sort of leadership position?

Is being safe being comfortable?

I don't think so. At the IMPACT Retreat, in a closing prayer, one of the leaders prayed that we would leave from there, not safe, but in the center of God's will. Wowser. You mean that car accident that we might have gotten in on the way home could have been a part of God's plan? Physically, we might not always be safe. Just read 2 Corinthians 4 and Hebrews 11. Suffering? Death? Yeah, Christians face that. Every day Christians are imprisoned, suffer, and die for their faith in Jesus Christ. Were they always physically safe? Not by this worlds standards. But were they ever outside of God's perfect plan for their life? I don't believe so.

Phil Wickham sings a song about being safe in God's arms. Safe from discomfort? Safe from pain? Safe from loosing someone you love dearly? Probably not. He wrote the song while experiencing a terribly difficult time in his life. Was he safe from that hurt? Nope.

But we are so safe in an even greater way. We are safe from pain that has no meaning. We are safe from any danger or threat that isn't in God's plan. Every thing has a purpose. Every trial, heartache, uncertainty, problem, temptation, testing, and improbability has a purpose.

Lord, remind me that discomfort in this life cannot be remedied with alarms, bells, or whistles. I'm only safe in your arms.

3/17/11

In the past few days, I’ve had a couple of people mention to me that they’ve noticed that I have not posted anything new to my blog lately. Weird. I was fairly convinced that my mother was the only one to read these posts. :) I love you, mom!

I have gone to write something new a couple times, especially during this week of Spring Break. I have time - but sadly, no inspiration. Not that living a life devoted to the Lord is not inspiring…but it’s easier to talk about that for me than to write about it.

Instead of trying to conjure up a deep thought, or writing about what I just read in C.S. Lewis’ ” The Screwtape Letters” (which is amazing, by the way), I thought I’d write about what I’m doing and experiencing right now. And maybe some random thoughts.

Currently, I am sitting in a coffee shop called Bridge 281. It’s about 15 minutes from my school, out a little ways from town. It’s owned and run by the attatched church, and has an amazing environment. Right now The Album Leaf is playing (Bon Iver was on a few moments ago), the lights are low, and I’m sitting on the second level watching the sun go down and the world grow dim.

I’m here with friends - Noelle, my dear confidant, Charles, my faithful friend, Susanne, sweet and encouraging, and Christopher, the brains of the operation.

Today I asked my roommate, Nicole, how her day was. Her quick response was, “Great!”. After a quick moment, she added to that, stating something about every day being a good day. She never has a bad one.

This is not because life is simply peachy keen for her and everyone around her. No, I’ve seen Nicole overloaded, a wee bit stressed, and lot bit tired. I’m fairly certain most people have felt the same on occasion, if not often.

But can we really call those days, “bad days”? Why do I tend to believe that my circumstances must dictate how my day goes or how I think it has gone?

Think about it. When we are in the right position, when we view ourselves as we should, and when we focus on and realize who God is, there is no bad day. There is only a new day to worship Him. There is only a new opportunity to face each circumstance with the purpose of loving God and those He has made and loved Himself.

Oh if I only put into action what I believe or think I believe.