Safe and Secure

Abram, pack your bags! We're going on a trip (not in our favorite rocket ship). Where are we going? To a place I will show you.

Does that sound safe? No.

Joseph, you're going to Egypt. You'll be sold into slavery, accused of rape, betrayed by inmates. Just you wait...

Does that sound safe? No.

Moses, you're going to be raised in a palace. Awesome, right? But you're going to the desert. Not before you stand before Pharoah and make a declaration to let God's people go.

Does that sound safe? No.

Esther, you're beautiful! Haman, he's jealous of you and your family. He's ready to drop the hammer. But I've chosen you, Esther. You're going to stand before the king.

Does that sound safe? No.

Daniel, you're going to Babylon. You and you're boys get ready. It's going to be hot. They're raising the temperature of the furnace and the lions are hungry.

Does that sound safe? No.

Can somebody please tell me the difference between safe and secure?

Safe removes all risks. Safe stays close to the shore. Safe huddles up in spaces that require very little sacrifice.

It appears that we've created a watered down version of Christianity in the Western world. Where we play it safe and keep it sanitized with occasional drippings of our favorite Bible verses on coffee mugs and Instagram photos.

We make our weekly visits to cathedrals of consumerism splashed with melodies of musical preference and therapeutic sermons; hoping we aren't hard-pressed to make sacrifices or come under grave conviction for our lavish lifestyles driven by comfort and entertainment.

Secure is holding to the confidence granted by God that no matter the circumstances He's going to accomplish His eternal purposes for all the world to see His glory. That in spite of moments like betrayal and brokenness God will fulfill the plan He established before the foundation of the world.

When Peter and John were in custody of the religious elite, their lives were in danger. They were threatened. Bullied. Meant to be made scared. It wasn't safe. But they were secure.

They charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Their response, "Whether it is right to listen to you rather than God, you judge. We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."

Many who call themselves Christians have an idealistic view that life is meant to be safe. Easy. Fun. Comfortable. But these ideals were never meant to be the driving force of our commitment.

Christians are called to trust and obey. To believe His promise. To feel secure.

No doubt, Peter and John remembered Jesus' response to Pilate's threats when he said, "Don't you know that I have the authority to release you or to crucify you?"

And Jesus responded, "You would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above." That's bold. That's the words of someone who's secure.

Too many Christians are preoccupied by the limits of their own safety devices. Living in our safe neighborhoods. Driving our safe cars. Playing with our safe friends. Working our safe jobs. Keeping tabs on our safe bank accounts. Enjoying our safe vacations. Planning for our safe retirement.

And we seldom consider the thought that safe was never the intent. Faith is. Trusting God by putting our lives on the front lines of obedience. And rather than shrinking back in fear that we'll be threatened, punished, criticized, or rejected; we are called to stand up. Stand out. Live by faith.

God's not asking for monumental faith or a radical display of obedience. He's asking for moment by moment faith. That each decision flow through the channel of His eternal promise to be with you. He's always with you! That's the difference between safe and secure!

She Said Yes

Lady of the night. Harlot. Prostitute.

Entering the front door. Slipping out the back door.

Every favor met with few questions and little opposition.

But this night was different.

Her house. Not his. Two people. Not one. For what? How much was the payoff this time?

Two spies. Their life was on the line. And now so was hers.

What did they promise? Life.

What did she say? She said yes.

She lowered the scarlet thread from her bedroom window and provided their way of escape.

Her life was riding the wave of keeping this secret. No doubt she had kept secrets many nights before. But tonight was different. She was not pledging the secrets of her sin. She was pledging the secret of complete annihilation of her city.

But she was convinced that the testimony sworn to her by these spies would change her life forever. And she complied in every way imaginable to secure their hidden identity and their promise that her life would be spared when the army returned.

More than loving her sin. More than loving her own life. She had a new found love for the God of Israel as her heart had been "melted" by the testimony of His actions.

What an amazing story of grace. Two spies enter a whorehouse and promise her life if she'll keep one more dirty little secret. Surprisingly, she does. And the rest is history.

Many of us know her as Rahab the harlot. But we would do well to remember her not by her past indecencies but rather by the moment of faith when she first believed and the grace she had now received.

There are two significant places in Scripture where her name is recorded that certainly paint a different picture of her new identity as God's chosen vessel to pour out His unmistakable plan onto the pages of redemptive history.

Matthew's Gospel records the lineage of Jesus where we find Rahab's name as ancestor of God's Son. The writer of Hebrews also records her name in the acclaimed "Hall of Faith" as one who did not perish with the rest of her city but received life because she welcomed spies into her home.

All because of her willingness to forgo a life harlotry and embrace a real relationship of love, grace, and forgiveness.

She said yes. But it did not come without a contending no. She said no to the sinful and shameful actions of a prostitute to say yes to a healthy and hopeful life as a follower of God.

You and I also have the privilege of laying aside the burden of guilty and shameful living for a life found in Christ. So what we must do is stop prostituting our affections to the highest bidder of our self-made gods that fail to satisfy or give us hope.

Giving God our Yes requires saying No to whatever competes for His attention and affection in this life He's called us to live. So the question remains, "will you say yes?"