“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”
Deuteronomy 33:12

I remember once being given a ‘panic alarm’. It did not have the desired effect of making me feel safe. In fact, I think it made me feel more scared as I began to imagine why I would need it. I was in my first teaching job in a particularly rough area. The Head teacher had been assaulted by a parent earlier that week and had been issued with alarms for all her staff. It was parent’s evening (my first as a teacher). There I was in my mobile classroom with nothing between me and the heavily tattooed man opposite except a small plastic tube no bigger than a mobile phone, that I was to press if the situation turned ugly. I felt very vulnerable (even though I was also fully-armed with a spare rechargeable battery).

I have yet to meet one person on planet earth who is totally secure. Every soul I know has something that feeds their insecurity, whether it be the size of their bald spot or the way their children have turned out. All of us have our own particular (and sometimes peculiar) Achilles heel. And yet I still find it surprising. I know a beautiful Christian woman who confessed to me recently how insecure she was around other women. An intelligent, stunning and fun friend of ours is single and is constantly alluding to the fact that this must be the result of some deep flaw.

Some years ago, I was sitting on a train coming home from a meeting. I sat opposite one of those special breed of men “¦ who stare lecherously. In his gaze I started to feel uncomfortable. I did what my Grandma taught me to do in such situations – I began to pick my nose (a highly recommended procedure in such circumstances). Not so obviously that others would see, but for his eyes only. Sure enough, he looked away, a look of disappointment and disgust just traceable on his face. SCORE! But, I was out of sorts, angry that I had been made to feel insecure. And that’s when it hit me. The word INSECURITY danced through my brain, and as it did so I felt the word separate in two. IN SECURITY.

As a Christian, I live IN SECURITY. I have a father who loves me 24-7, a purpose for my life, a hope and a future that will prosper me. I have the hope of heaven, the power of a risen saviour, the promise of the Spirit. I have access to the truths of God, the fellowship of the saints, the love language of prayer. Why then should I worry about my hair or whether my ‘bum looks big in this?’ Why do I waste time wondering if such and such a person likes me, rates me, includes me, values me? Why do I live in insecurity when the option to emigrate to a land of security awaits?

‘Blessed is the man who fears the Lord”¦Surely He will never be shaken”¦He will have no fear of bad news”¦his heart is secure, he will have no fear.’
Psalm 112:1,6,7,8

Let us not be content to live as we have been my friends. Let us each throw off the insecurity that so easily entangles us and live today ‘IN SECURITY’ – the world our Father inhabits with us.