Week 31: Secure
Weekly Chapters:
Isaiah 31-57
Passage of the Week:
Isaiah 32:18
Adjective:
1. free from harm
2. dependable firm not liable to fail
3. safety
Thesaurus:
· Protected
· Sheltered
· Defended
· Immune
· Shielded
· Gnarled
Father God,
Coming from last week in stress, the feeling of security is comforting. Let me explore security and crave it rather than a topsy-turvy world I create for myself.
Amen
Authentic vulnerability:
Security sometimes can feel so elusive. Security as a child, student, teenager, young adult, spouse, parent, employee. Are we ever secure in our role at any time? Sometimes I feel like I am teetering off the edge. I was walking a fine line. Having to prove my worth, my value.
I’ve been afraid of heights since I fell off a roof in high school, ditching school. Ever since then, height has plagued me. Even a 6-foot ladder gives me fear—a virtually fearless person. This summer, my daughter and I ventured to the Grand Canyon. We went to the North Rim and glancing out at an Overlook, me 10 feet from the edge her 2 feet from the edge. We were blown away by the majesty of God’s creation, as his beauty manifested by thousands of years in which His artistry and His work created this behemoth that we casually name the Grand Canyon.
In an instance of looking down, my stomach lurches, feet and legs feel less steady.
Walking down a path, my completely secure 18-year-old daughter asking to climb rock formations, me thinking about one misstep from her could cause me to lose her forever. My mind was envisioning her tumbling over the edge. My insecurity at insane levels. Her seeing my fear says, “you can say no.”
Permission to say no, permission to feel secure, my heart and feet feeling more firmly rooted.
What is your Authentic Truth?
Study:
Resting in God, trusting in God, and residing in his word creates security. God says that those who follow him will dwell in peaceful habitation (Isaiah 32:18). By living in God and following his guidance, we will find peace, quiet, and confidence (Isaiah 32:17). When the world is crashing around us, by abiding in God, we will flourish (Isaiah 32:19 and 20).
This is our permission for experiencing peace. God promises that by abiding in Him, His words, and His teachings, we will be provided peace and security.
Throughout Isaiah, we see God‘s might and his protection of those who follow his guidance:
· Isaiah 40:12-31: strength to those who persevere will walk and not grow weary
29 He gives power to the weakand strength to the powerless.
30 Even youths will become weak and tired,and young men will fall in exhaustion.
31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
· Isaiah 43:10-13: God declares his power
10 “But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord. “You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God—there never has been, and there never will be.
· Isaiah 48:17-18: if we listen and follow God, we will have peace and security.
17 This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.
18 Oh that you had listened to my commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea.
I think back to my time at the Grand Canyon. I felt my feet falter, my legs weak, just the thoughts and fears of what could happen going through my head, my anxiety rising with every step I saw my daughter take.
The moment she permitted me to say no, everything came into perspective. I was on solid ground. No one was falling off the edge. We were safe; we were secure.
God gives me that same permission every day. He tells me that He is God (43:10-13) and permits me to trust him. God gives me the power to see His might. Then He tells me to trust, to give my fears over to Him (Isaiah 48:17-18), and He will give me peace like a river (Verse 18).
My security rooted in God is strong. When I listen to my head and not to God when I find my feet unsteady, wavering. Only through praying and trusting in God’s word can I feel the security I need to think with the ground firmly beneath my feet.
Father God,
You are my strength, my security, my peace, and my everything. Thank you for illustrating how releasing my anxiety to You allows me to grow. Thank You for sending Your profit Isaiah to demonstrate our security in You.
Amen.
Homework:
· Identify a situation that gives you anxiety, where you feel like you are teetering. Pick something in your everyday life that creates stress.
· Turn it over to God through a physical release of some sort. Write it down and rip it up, write it down in the dirt and scrambled up, release a balloon. Let it go and let God take it over for you. If you have debilitating anxiety, do not let fear hold you back from seeking professional help and seeking strategies that help you release it to God.
