No Safe Places
Don't you just love it when God "shows up"? If you want to get technical, God always shows up in His world and to His children, but I am referring to those times where God clearly reveals Himself through something in particular, or in a specific place. I have recently blogged about how God has been clearly speaking and revealing Himself to me through a book that I'm reading to my residents at a program at work. The book "The Hiding Place" was pulled off of my bookshelf to read to them "for such a time as this". In the book, we are coming to the beginning of the hardship that the Jews experienced during World War 2, an event that never fails to help me put my personal hardships into perspective. As I read through the chapter, I eventually came upon the following quote:
"There are no 'if's' in God's world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety - let us pray that we may always know it!"— Corrie ten Boom (The Hiding Place)
Have you ever considered the truth of this quote? As I moved on with the chapter, my heart kept mulling over the power of that quote. I had never considered that the only "safe" place was in the center of God's will. If a person is in the midst of a natural disaster, they will run for some kind of shelter or do whatever they can to protect themselves. But what if being in that natural disaster is being in the center of God's will? Is it really a safe place to be when everything around you is threatening to take away any sense of safety? The answer is: yes.
This truth gives me a deep comfort, but an odd pang in my stomach. It goes along with the solid truth that as Christians, our lives are not our own. We have been created by a creator for His purposes. To acknowledge such a thing is to be our life and is to transform every single perspective that we acquire as human beings. This original quote was spoken by Corrie Tenboom's sister, Betsy, after Corrie almost died by running into a 10 inch piece of metal that had broken off of something during an air raid. If a woman who is in the midst of one of the greatest hardships and tragedies of our time can speak such truth and have such faith, what stops us from doing this in our day to day lives?
Instead, we protect ourselves. We seek those "safe" places, which can take many different forms. They can be relationships, physical locations and certain decisions that we make, just to name a few. When our emotional, physical or spiritual safety is threatened, we seek a safe place; a place where we can be left alone, a place that is familiar, a place where there is little to no chance of experiencing any danger. If we could only grasp that there is no such place. That even those places pose danger, all be it not all the time, or right away. That even in those places of safety, we are vulnerable to intense pain and experiences that leave us questioning if there really is a safe place.
The lyrics to the old worship song "You are my Hiding Place" states this truth beautifully."You are my hiding place, you always fill my heart with songs of deliverance, whenever I am afraid. I will trust in you, I will trust in you, let the weak say "I am strong", in the shadow of your wings."
As children of God ( or my new favorite name for Him, "Papa") we are always safe. As we cling to Him, He keeps us in the center of His will. When we listen for His voice, He gently whispers His reassurance of the fact that He is alive and present in our lives. That even in the midst of pain, tragedy, uncertainty and injustice, we are safe. May this truth resonate in your heart, and prompt you to extend your hand to an unseen God as He leads you and keeps you safe in the shelter of His mighty hand.
"There are no 'if's' in God's world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety - let us pray that we may always know it!"— Corrie ten Boom (The Hiding Place)
Have you ever considered the truth of this quote? As I moved on with the chapter, my heart kept mulling over the power of that quote. I had never considered that the only "safe" place was in the center of God's will. If a person is in the midst of a natural disaster, they will run for some kind of shelter or do whatever they can to protect themselves. But what if being in that natural disaster is being in the center of God's will? Is it really a safe place to be when everything around you is threatening to take away any sense of safety? The answer is: yes.
This truth gives me a deep comfort, but an odd pang in my stomach. It goes along with the solid truth that as Christians, our lives are not our own. We have been created by a creator for His purposes. To acknowledge such a thing is to be our life and is to transform every single perspective that we acquire as human beings. This original quote was spoken by Corrie Tenboom's sister, Betsy, after Corrie almost died by running into a 10 inch piece of metal that had broken off of something during an air raid. If a woman who is in the midst of one of the greatest hardships and tragedies of our time can speak such truth and have such faith, what stops us from doing this in our day to day lives?
Instead, we protect ourselves. We seek those "safe" places, which can take many different forms. They can be relationships, physical locations and certain decisions that we make, just to name a few. When our emotional, physical or spiritual safety is threatened, we seek a safe place; a place where we can be left alone, a place that is familiar, a place where there is little to no chance of experiencing any danger. If we could only grasp that there is no such place. That even those places pose danger, all be it not all the time, or right away. That even in those places of safety, we are vulnerable to intense pain and experiences that leave us questioning if there really is a safe place.
The lyrics to the old worship song "You are my Hiding Place" states this truth beautifully."You are my hiding place, you always fill my heart with songs of deliverance, whenever I am afraid. I will trust in you, I will trust in you, let the weak say "I am strong", in the shadow of your wings."
As children of God ( or my new favorite name for Him, "Papa") we are always safe. As we cling to Him, He keeps us in the center of His will. When we listen for His voice, He gently whispers His reassurance of the fact that He is alive and present in our lives. That even in the midst of pain, tragedy, uncertainty and injustice, we are safe. May this truth resonate in your heart, and prompt you to extend your hand to an unseen God as He leads you and keeps you safe in the shelter of His mighty hand.
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