Our Security

I regularly read via email Bread for the Journey by Henry Nouwen. He writes daily pithy devotions that get right to the heart of the matter. One recently stabbed mine. “What is the basis of our security? When we start thinking about that question, we may give many answers: success, money, friends, property, popularity, family, connections, insurance, and so on. We may not always think that any of these forms the basis of our security, but our actions or feelings may tell us otherwise. When we start losing our money, our friends, or our popularity, our anxiety often reveals how deeply our sense of security is rooted in these things.” What is your anxiety trigger? Sleepless nights? Popping Rolaids? Raiding the refrigerator? Shopping? It took me about five seconds to know my weakness. I wish I could say it was something new causing my distress but, unfortunately, it was the same old problem. I realized that I had gone through the motions but not really dropped that burden at the feet of Jesus. I had picked it up again and was struggling under its weight—letting it take away my peace and joy. I am so thankful that God is a God of second chances and gently encourages me to let Him be my security. Again, I dropped off the load and with a lightened heart, thanked Him for His peace and security, knowing that He would take care of me. Not an hour later, my inbox had an email that only He could have arranged to show me He had my back. (Thank you, Lord!) The end of the Meditation encouraged me in my journey to continue to take it step by step: " A spiritual life is a life in which our security is based not in any created things, good as they may be, but in God, who is everlasting love. We probably will never be completely free from our attachment to the temporal world, but if we want to live in that world in a truly free way, we'd better not belong to it. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money" (Luke 16:13)."