When Are You Really Safe?

Safety is important to all of us. All of us want to be safe and feel safe, at least most of the time. But when are we really “safe”? Is there a way to stay safe? In Acts 23 we read about a plot to assassinate the apostle Paul. A band of man take an oath not to eat or drink until they assassinate Paul. They hatch a plan. But before we read of that plan, we read these words from God to Paul: 11 But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.” God told Paul that He would make sure Paul made it to Rome. It turns out that Paul’s nephew hears about the plot to kill Paul, tells Paul and the Roman military commander and Paul receives a strong military escort to Caesarea and is not harmed. I’ve always wondered if those men who took the oath not to eat or drink kept their oath…and died…

Anyway, the point is that “safe” is somewhat of a relative term. Eventually, Paul does lose his life for the sake of the gospel, being martyred. Followers of Jesus are not immortal in this world…we die. But someone once said to me that the “safest place to be is in the will of God”. I think that’s true. When we are doing what God desires for us to do, we will be safe as long as God desires us to be safe. Safety is not to be the first priority. Obedience to God is the first priority and when we are obeying Him, we will find that we are in fact, “safe”…even when we are in danger. That might sound like a paradox but it’s not.   We are in real “danger” when we are outside of God’s will for us…be safe!

Share

Leave a Reply