SECURITY IN THE STORM

Genesis 28:1-29:35; Matthew 9:18-38; Psalm 11:1-7; Proverbs 3:11-12

“Jacob… dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he 

said, ‘I am the Lord….  I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.’”

“Jesus… healed every kind of disease and illness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

“I trust in the Lord for protection.”

We don’t see a lot of hurricanes in San Antonio, but they tell us one is coming.  We will get rain and wind.  When it gets here, though (if it gets here), it no doubt will be a shadow of its former self, having traveled many miles inland.  Still, grocery stores are picked clean.  Home improvement inventories are emptied.  There is not a generator or bottle of water to be found.  It is always a good idea to be prepared and safe.  One wonders, though, if the near panic behind the preparation is not a symptom of a greater insecurity.  It is no stretch to say that people are acting like sheep without a Shepherd.

Let’s face it: the quest for guaranteed personal safety is an elusive, and ultimately futile, one.  But Jesus understands our fears.  He’s seen them before, and will again.  So, He has compassion on us and offers His protection.  It is not protection that promises mere personal safety.  It is protection that guarantees eternal security.  Christ offers the bedrock reality of an eternal Home with Him which circumstances can never damage or destroy.  Best of all, He offers the security of His unconditional love and the promise of abundant life, both now and in the world to come, if we will just accept it.

I, too, forget I have divine protection.  I can get as frantic as anyone and obsess over earthly safety.  But the inevitable reality is that all our plans and safeguards cannot fully protect any of us from the storms of life.  Oh, Lord, help me to understand the difference between temporary safety and eternal security.  Allow me to rest in you, even in the middle of the storm.