So be on
your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded.
There are some
places that ought to be safe. I mean safe as in you feel welcome, at
peace and calm. That would includes the places where you can let your
guard down because you know you won’t be attacked physically or
emotionally. These places are important.
The first is our
homes. Maybe you realize as I do that it
is very easy to let our homes become battlegrounds rather than a safe
zone. This happens when we let our guard down, when we stop doing what
God called us to do, when we start thinking about ourselves rather than about
others. For our homes to be safe, we have to realize we are on the same
team, and we all win when we are together. Husbands and wives… Parents
and kids… Family. It is a challenge to make our homes safe places.
Another place
that ought to be a safe zone is the church.
If you are like me, you’ve seen many churches that look more like a war
zone than a place of peace. Again, when we think that our agenda is the
only agenda or our way is the only right way, war breaks out. Often
people can’t control their lives away from church and thus try to control what
they can. The battle begins over the color of the walls or carpet, over
the music or versions of the Bible, and many more things. We have to make
sure our churches are safe zones so that more and more people will meet the one
who really makes us safe.
I am
leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift
the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
The last place
of safety that I want to let you hear about, that I need to hear about, is
around us. When our lives are in turmoil, we tend to be at war or in battle
mode. There is a lack of peace when there is the presence of
stress. There is a lack of faith and the presence of fear at this time.
When the people around us that desire to follow God, they ought to feel safe
and loved. That responsibility is on us. Seek God. Let His
peace hold us. We have to choose to be a safe zone rather than a
battleground.
Trust in
the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
For God
has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and
self-discipline.
Don’t
worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need,
and thank him for all he has done.
I need to hear
that and act on it. Our families, friends and those who need what we have
need many safe zones where Jesus and faith is being lived out by those who are
trusting God. Don’t let anyone rob your
peace and turn your safe zones in to battlegrounds.
NOTE:
much of this post was first shared in June of 2013
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