How To Feel Secure In A World That's Not

HOW TO FEEL SECURE IN A WORLD THAT’S NOT

Have you ever sat down and thought about how abruptly life goes from innocent to insecure? Can you pinpoint the time of your life where you suddenly started to understand good and evil and realized that nothing in this world can be counted on? It’s quite arbitrary, to think about it; and quite daunting, to recognize it bubbling up in your life, because it emphasizes the impact of our world on a very frail heart. Insecurity can ever so slowly start to emerge in our daily life and wreak havoc on our own personalities. We begin to recognize and contribute sin into the equation of our insecurity. How can we feel secure in a world that’s not?

The power in this world is terrifying. As we continue to grow up, the revelation of our own sinfulness grows as well. We start to see the world and all it’s expectations, pressure, judgement, and hatred. It’s filled with it. We begin to feel and see the temptations and feel emotions we hadn’t felt before. We begin to recognize and contribute our own sinful tendencies into the mix. We ask questions and desperately try to make sense of it all. We search and long for an identity and purpose and in doing so, we realize that we’re trying to find security in the very things that crumble. Who am I?

ONE: Recognize your misplaced security

The world tells us our security is in the temporary. Money, achievement, a house, and family are all examples of tangible aspects of how we gain and measure our worth and social status. It is a dark veil that the world puts over our eyes to dictate who we think we are and how good we are at being ourselves.

Somewhere along our early life we started noticing this. We started being a part of it. We started to fight, desire, and define our entire being based on those around us, and took their opinions to heart. Somehow, we traded the innocent for the insecure.

Romans 5: 19 “For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”

But were we ever innocent? As believers, one of the most important things we can recognize and understand is who we are, the instant we are born into this world. First and foremost, we are sinners. Meaning, innocence has never been accomplished. We were born into a sinful world and our natural sinfulness causes us to trust in things that let us down and leave us.

Synonyms for the word security are freedom and guarantee. When I think about those words and try to match them to things like money and achievement, something doesn’t add up. Because money doesn’t set me free, it grips me. Achievement doesn’t guarantee success, it demands it. If these things aren’t securing me in my being, then what does?

TWO: Recognize your security is in a Person

BUT GOD.

Jesus Christ demolished the burden of our sin so that we can walk in grace and pursue Him over the world. We must recognize our need for a Savior, so we can understand that we are forgiven. He makes us a new creation! 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come”

If we know that Christ died for us and if we have accepted Him in to our hearts, then we know that His promise of grace secures us! We know that we are set free from our sin and guaranteed a place in heaven. We are not gripped by the frailty of our humanity nor are we bowing to the demands of worldly perfection. We are instead invited into a new body, to live a new life surrendered over to Him.

Hanging on to the only secure thing

It’s not on us to have it all figured out. It’s not on us to live within the expectations and judgements of those around us. But as we grow up, and become more and more aware of our natural sinfulness and the evil of our enemy, we are more prone to hold on to the tangible things. Which doesn’t make sense. But here’s why.

Security naturally comes in the form of palpable material. Mainly, because we relate security with comfort. We are comfortable surrounded by walls and under a roof. We are comfortable without financial burden and we are comfortable with the approval of bosses. So, we start to convince ourselves that things make us feel secure.

But what we often forget, is that you can’t be secure in something that isn’t secure itself. Meaning, that roof could collapse. You could lose your job. You could drop the pass. We are not guaranteed the possession of worldly things, yet we give our life away for them.

Jesus says “…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal ” Matthew 6:20. We do have an untouchable promise! We have a definite safe place and unending secure love. Jesus offers us a way out of our insecurities. He offers us the freedom this world has so convincingly painted on. So, we let go of our insecurities by letting God take over. By letting Him do the work in our hearts that so desperately needs molding. From day one, we need Him and from day one He is there.