Security, security, where for art thou?

Security. What comes to your mind with the sound of this word?

Financial security, job security, and the security provided by the lock on my inner-city apartment are my immediate associations. Why the abundant security found in our all-powerful Creator and Sustainer is not the first thing to come to my mind, I'm not sure.  God has provided for me in every way imaginable through the years, from near-miraculous to seemingly commonplace ways (go to some of my 2009 blog entries to be encouraged by just a few).  There is comfort in already receiving forgiveness for my misplaced search for security, as well as knowing I am not alone in this struggle.

Where do you search for security?  What objects, ideas, or institutions do you trust in for protection against danger, damage, or loss? 

I've been wrestling with God big time lately as each of these idols reveals itself as completely inadequate to providing deep, peace-producing security.  Like a child throwing an inappropriate temper tantrum, I routinely find myself in a pit of sulky frustration that things have not gone as I have so painstakingly planned.

Living on a strict budget for the first time in my life has brought me close to obsession over every cent spent, assuming that this kind of micromanagement is what will make ends meet at the end of the day.  So this week when a significant medical bill arrived in the mail and the motherboard of Jeromy's computer died, I was less than calm, cool, and collected.  Not only had I not anticipated these expenses, but my trust in my financial finesse had failed me.

Similarly, I expect that exceeding expectations and winning favorable opinion in the workplace will guarantee a steady future income.  So when the boss that hired me and invested in me left our company in August, I found myself anxiously wondering if my new boss would see the same potential in me and want to keep me around.  When it comes to environmental security, I even rest better at night as I unswervingly trust in the flimsy lock and porch light at the rear of our apartment to protect against any possibility of intrusion.  

My misstep here is not necessarily out-rightly worshiping these things, but a quiet belief in the protection I assume they bring that only the Father actually provides.  I trust in these things for my security more than I trust God who asked me rather to be a wise steward of them.

So I'm praying, striving, and hoping to turn my stubborn mind away from this trap and instead aiming to spend some time meditating on God as my rock this week.  Indeed, God has made Himself known both in Scripture and through experience as strong, unbreakable, sturdy, and secure.  A quick word search reveals that David addressed this specific identity of God at least 27 times in the Psalms, acknowledging Him as "the Rock that is higher than I."  How has He shown Himself as such in your life experience?  Have you let Him, or are you with me, clinging to your paycheck or people's opinion for your security? 

I think I've found at least one question I want to keep asking in 2011.  Where is my security?  My mind knows that God provides absolute security in our complacency, our need, our joy, and our questions, and I'm asking Him to "help my unbelief" to make my thoughts and actions speak to that same knowledge.


Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:2