Real Safety

Ps.91:¹ “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ² This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.”

What made David strong? Was David just a positive thinker? When I am commuting, sometimes my radio is on and I listen to all sorts of shows and the topics can get really interesting. The topic on one of the shows I was listening to one day was black magic. Someone called in to say it only exits in people’s minds, that if you do not believe it, it cannot affect you. I laughed because what does a child know? But if you have seen enough of life, you would know that that is not true. David was neither trying to wish the fear away, nor deploy on positive thinking and speaking. The Bible shows us clearly where David’s confidence was.

Ps.23:⁴ (NKJV) “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me…” [with emphasis]. David’s confidence came from God’s presence. It is the presence of God that is the key to security – physical security, emotional security, financial security, health security, and even future security. The key to security is God’s presence, you need to say this to yourself and your family repeatedly until it is burned in your heart. The reason you will not fear evil has nothing to do with how intelligent you are, or how good your job is, or who your spouse is. You will fear no evil because God is with you. This statement captures it aptly, “Safety is not the absence of danger. Safety is in the presence of the Lord”.

Many of us try to eradicate danger and that is the responsible thing to do. But ultimately safety comes from the presence of the Lord. When we first got married, locking the door was a big issue. My wife insists that the doors must be locked. So we are going to bed and she asks, “have you locked the doors?” I say, “Let me check!”, in other words, I have not. Women just want the doors locked, the windows bolted, if they can put a guard on the air conditioner vent they will. Please note that I am not saying you should sleep with your doors open. The responsible thing to do is to lock the doors before you go to sleep. But real safety comes from the presence of God.

You can be in a house that has seven layers of burglary proof and still live in fear. Primary, fear has nothing to do primarily with the presence or absence of the burglary proof. Fear has everything to do with God’s presence in or absence from your life. One person can have a hundred million dollars and still be afraid. Meanwhile another person with ten thousand naira and be joyful. The difference is God’s presence. We must stop looking to external things for security.

Prayer: Father, I make Your presence my armor and my place of safety, in Jesus name. Amen!