Repeated attempts to blow up airplanes and to perpetuate other acts of terror around the world show just how fragile even the tightest security programs can be. Security measures can be evaded or things can slip through. Admittedly, many acts of terrorism have been averted, but all it would take is one huge disaster to shake up the world even more than after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.
Repeatedly, people’s hopes for peace and security have been dashed. When communism fell in Russia and Eastern Europe, aspirations for peace and security soared. Certainly the world would be a safer place with the diminishing threat of communism. After the first Persian Gulf War, people again hoped for some measure of peace in the Middle East, but it was not to be. The self-proclaimed prophetess Jean Dixon prophesied that the year 2000 would usher in an era of peace. She failed to foresee the rise of terrorism that would shake the world. Her prophesy failed as did many other of her predictions. She died in 1997 before seeing the failure of her hopes for world peace.
By the time this article (being written in January) gets to your house in April, more nations could be at war, or other unforeseen security issues may arise. We feel almost helpless to do anything to avert disasters.
Many people have taken personal steps to try to protect themselves from disasters. They have stored food and fuel somewhere on their properties so they can survive (at least for a while) in case of major disruptions of supplies. Others have stored weapons to defend themselves from those who might try to steal these things. This leaves them with some feeling of “security.” However, all these things are no guarantee of protection or survival in case of disaster.
Obviously, physical security is uncertain at best even in the countries that have the most sophisticated “homeland security” departments. So, where can we turn in our search of security?
Recently I passed a place of business selling “security” systems for homes and businesses. A huge sign (bigger than the business name) on the front of the store proclaimed, “In God We Trust.” Had I had time, I would have stopped to ask them about the intent of their sign. Were they saying that they were trusting God for business? Or that God is more trustworthy than their customers (who might not pay them)? Or were they saying that people need to trust their security devices along with trust in God? Hopefully it is not like U.S. currency which proclaims, “In God We Trust.” Obviously, far more people trust the money than trust God. Money can lose its value. Banks can fail. Governments and their programs can go bankrupt. Only God can be trusted completely. In spite of the irony of the business sign, at least it points us to the place where true security lies. It is found in trusting God, not only with our material things, but also with our lives. Material things deteriorate or pass away, but if we have our security in God, then we will have reason not to fear. The threat of terrorism may make our lives uncertain, but if our trust is in God we can have a degree of security that goes beyond this life. “We may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:6).
When we come to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and submission, we find a degree of security that can never be found elsewhere in our fragile world. “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).
Certainly God would want us to take reasonable precautions, not leaving our homes and businesses wide open to thieves. He would want us to avoid things that would endanger our own lives or the lives of others. But He also wants us to depend on Him in the situations we cannot control. Most of all, He wants us to depend on Him for eternal life that can never be taken from us by the security breaches around us. With God’s help, we can face the security issues of our day.
Can we say with Paul, the Biblical writer, “I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38, 39).
–Roger Berry