A Few Thoughts on Safety

The Danger we Face 

Psalm 56:3 “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”

We are living through a unique time in the history of our country. The news is filled every day with accounts and predictions of sickness and disaster. We are told that not only do we face a virus that could cause a death toll akin to that of the plague of the Middle Ages. We have been prohibited from many of our normal activities. We recently had a death in the church and the funeral was a very abbreviated service. A trip to the grocery store has become a foray into ‘dangerous territory’.  We have witnessed the panic that have resulted in empty store shelves and worse the suspension of worship services in our churches. While due precautions are necessary, it seems to me that we have put a great strain on our social structure due to fear. Let’s look a three points to consider in this situation. 

First let’s consider our:

1. SITUATION – In the present conditions we are:
   1. POWERLESS
      1. We cannot see our enemy – it’s an invisible pathogen which invades without being detected until it begins to do it damage. This is analogous to the evil influence in our lives that invades from the culture that has been corrupted and is carried by contemporaneous music and entertainment and even by the news media that portrays good as evil and evil as good. 
      2. We cannot change our situation – We are told to “shelter in place” meaning basically hide and hope it goes away. But we live in a world that is replete with danger and if it’s not the Coronavirus then it will be something else.  The Scriptures and history show us that due to Adam’s actions sin entered the world and death by sin. We cannot escape the danger by remaining in our homes. The greatest danger facing our nation is not some physical disease but the spiritual disease of sin that causes the second death. It seems that we have become inured to the reality of the wickedness around us every day. The newspapers, the television, the news programs and the internet are filled with stories that are degrading and tend to lower our spiritual sights and diminish our hunger for the things of God while feeding our carnal nature. While we cannot escape while we remain alive and in this world it is essential that we stay aware of the danger around us  Just as we should practice defensive driving we should practice defensive living; anticipating and trying to avoid the hazards that we find along the road of life. 
   2. We have PRECAUTIONS in the Bible. We are told in Job 5:7 “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.”  And in 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”. The lesson is that we live in a dangerous world and the only safety is in the Lord. The greater danger is not the physical but the spiritual. The physical is under the curse of sin and will perish by some means but the spiritual is eternal. 
2. Our SECURITY – As our theme verse tells us we may be afraid. I have experienced fear many times in my life. Sometimes the fear was reasonable, but many times it was an unreasoning fear brought on by an emotional reaction. We should consider that even the hairs on our heads are numbered and God knows the count. The Scriptures tell us the He cares for even the sparrow and that we are worth much more than a sparrow. Think about:
   1. We say that we TRUST God. We do many things each day that show we trust many things.  One of the most vivid for me is that people get into their automobile and hurl themselves down the road at incredible speeds trusting in things that can fail without warning,  The brakes in a car depend on parts such as a rubber cup in the master cylinder (I know that these days that the brake system has two). If this small fragile piece of rubber fails you have no way to safely stop your car. We depend on a piece of rubber for our lives yet many won’t trust God with their safety. I am not preaching taking foolish chances, I refer you to Luke 4:12 “And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” 
   2. We profess to TRUST God for our eternal salvation. Then why can we not trust Him for our protection here. Again I’m not saying that we should seek out danger, but rather know that if we are in danger that God is capable of removing us or guiding us through the danger. He can also take us home by means of the danger. Think of the trial of the threes Hebrew children in the book of Daniel. They told the king that God could keep them out of the furnace, He could save them out of the furnace or they could die in the furnace, but in any case they would be delivered from the hand of the King. If you are saved be not afraid, Heaven awaits. 
3. The Course we STEER
   1. Take REASONABLE precautions – avoid crowds, wash your hands etc. 
   2. Don’t PANIC – Think of all those who came before us who faced much greater dangers than we. Some were delivered alive through their trials, some died in their trials and some lived with the results of their trial until the time that God called them to Himself. But they all are enjoying the presence of God, as shall we if we have received the forgiveness of sin by faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

God bless, 

Brother Mike