INSECURITY and SECURITY
“Lay down now a pledge, be thou
surety for me with thyself: who is he that striketh hands with me?”
(Job 17:3)
The
September 11th 2001 terrorist events in the United States, then in Spain and
later in the United Kingdom have made visible, in an intense and directly
evident way, the insecurity in which humanity lives! All humanity
understood that disaster may occur from ‘everywhere’, and that no one is in
security. And what could we say about the terrorist attacks “kamikaze” by
which are assassinated, unexpectedly, innocent men, women and children by
their tens, even by
their hundreds in buses, restaurants, public markets etc.? In addition, too
many people are wounded; some of them remain handicapped for all their
lives! These terrorist attacks had, as a result, to see some airlines pass
through serious economic crisis, people fired, the tourist sector perturbed
and people who travel on mission wonder if they would arrive safely at their
destination… What is worst in all this is that man’s life has no value in
the terrorist’s eyes! Men are killed as if they were flies or chickens
brought to be slaughtered!
Insecurity
generalized
The
sensation of insecurity exists in all of us. In certain cases, we consider
happiness and security as synonymous or identical. The same holds good for
insecurity and fear. He who is insecure is afraid and he who is or feels
secure has no reason to fear. Man’s misery is that he has lost his right
orientation and looks for security where there is no security and he is
afraid where there is no real danger or fear!
What we
are looking for is but our happiness, which is interwoven with our security.
In our days, one great source of concern and of insecurity is the problem
of a stable job and consequently of a stable and of a just income. Even for
those who have this privilege, there is no true security: “For we are
strangers before you, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on
the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.” (Gr: permanence)
(1Chr.29:15). How many people are fired, how many want to find a job and do
not achieve it? The great majority of the population does not feel secure.
Housebreaking, gangsterism, troubles in the football stadiums,
anti-Christian movements that go on increasing etc., create a generalized
feeling of insecurity and great psychological problems such as depression
and psychoses that result, in certain cases, in suicide. Let us mention
certain points that men consider as sources of security and happiness:
Money
The
first thing to which man takes refuge in order to feel secure is money.
The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as a high wall in his own
conceit (Prov.18:11). That is what the rich man of Jesus’ parable believed:
He was saying, «And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid
up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to
him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose
shall those things be, which you have provided? So is he that lays up
treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.» (Lu.12:19-21). The
man who has made gold or the abundance of his goods his hope has committed a
“crime”, because, in reality, he denies or despises God the Highest
(Job 31:24-28). He forgets Him who governs everything and who is the
provider of every good thing! (De.8:13-14). To rest on money is a
form of idolatry, because man replaces God in his heart by an idol:
Money! The Lord Jesus Christ said: «For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also.» (Mat.6:21). This is exactly the reason why it
is so difficult for those who trust in their money to enter the Kingdom of
God (Mark 10:24 and Mat.19:23). Not those who have money but those
who have put their trust in money! Yes, those who have not put God
as their “all” but money and their properties (Ps.52:5)!
Love for money puts men under
extremely serious temptations and hurtful lusts. This love endangers man’s
integrity, leads to an unfruitful life and can lead “in destruction and
perdition” (1Tim.6:9; Pr.22:20 and Mark.4:18-19).
Can money be useful at the moment of calamity or can it
finally save from death? (Ps.49:6-7; 52:1;
Pr.11:4; 20:14; Ecc.6:2 and Zeph.1:18). Many of those who were buried under
the ruins of the twin New York towers were very rich men! Were they saved
because of their money or were they spared from the testings that followed
their lives? In addition, do riches remain always? (Pr.23:5;
27:24; 1Tim.6:7). We have seen that many rich people have died in poverty!
All rich people, without any exception, have never been able to take their
riches with them! They have left them behind to people who, in certain
cases, were unworthy; who ignored not only how to deal with them but not
even to enjoy them!
Does money mean happiness?
How many people have confessed that in spite of their riches they were most
miserable? Either many of them have committed suicide because of boredom or
because of bad health; man’s soul can neither be satisfied neither with
material goods nor with money (Ps.39:6 and Ecc.2:26). Sicknesses make no
distinction between rich and poor people!
We,
then, conclude that riches are not only uncertain but they are also
vain, and dangerous and destructive! This is why we should not fool
ourselves and put our trust in riches. What has been said is not valid only
for rich people or for those who want to become rich but also for poor
people who consider that money is their source of happiness and
security!
Man that trusts in
man and makes flesh his arm
The
second man’s refuge in order to feel safe is to
rely on his fellowman! Is not his fellowman
vulnerable as he himself whose breath is “in his nostrils”? «Cease ye
from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted
of?» (Isa.2:22). Is he not insecure? Man in his wickedness and
blindness that prevail in the world and that keep increasing commits the
most serious, destructive and sinful mistake to take refuge in another man,
even if that man is a Governor, a Deputy, a Minister or a Prime Minister or
even a Pastor or a Priest! Man who relies on another man is cursed:
“Thus says the LORD; cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh
his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD.” (Jer.17:5). We find
the same spirit in Psalms and Isaiah: “It is better to trust in the LORD
than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put
confidence in princes.” (Ps.118:8-9; Ps.146:3-5 and Isa.30.1-3). How
foolish it is to trust in man’s power! Every man is feeble and imperfect.
Is it ever possible… not to be disappointed? He who is equipped with this
knowledge saves his soul from a lot of disappointments and troubles. Many
people, and especially women, consider marriage as a safety net and believe
that they are safe… If one takes a look at the divorce statistics one will
soon be convinced that the blessing of marriage that God has instituted has
become a source of wickedness and insecurity. Many are those who would have
wished that they were not married! Moreover, what should we say about the
couples that are unofficially divorced?
Trusting in his
own heart
If
man cannot rely on his neighbour, let him not think that he can trust
in himself or in his heart. The Word of God says:
“He who trusts in his own heart is a
fool; but whoever walks wisely, he shall be delivered.”
(Pr.28:26). It is wisdom not to trust your own
wisdom and the so-called constancy of your heart. Many were the
“guarantees” that the apostle Peter gave to Christ but he finally denied Him
when he risked to be seized.
“So let him who thinks he stands
take heed lest he fall.”
(1Cor.10:12). Whatever has been said is also
valid for all those who trust their own wisdom and their methods
(Pr.3:7; 3:5; 26:5; 26:12; Isa.5:21; Hos.10:13; Ob.3; Lu.18:19;
Rom.12:16; 1Co.8:2; Gal.6:3). Man should not rely on his heart, which is
“…deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…” (Jer.17:9) nor
on his good works, which are “…as filthy rags…” (Isa.64:6), nor in
his goodness, which is as a morning cloud and as the early dew that goes
away (Hos.6:4).
Boast on the
morrow
Equally, if not more foolish are those who rely and boast on the
“morrow”, as if the next day depended on them!
Τheir life is ‘a
vapor, which appears for a little time, and then disappears’!
They should rather say, “…
If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
(Jas.4:14-15).
God is the only
support; the only security
Therefore, we conclude
“…all is vanity
and vexation of spirit”
(Ec.1:14). Everything and particularly our security and happiness depend on
Him who governs all things!
Yes, all things depend on
Him who
works all things according to the counsel of His own will
(Eph.1:11) and renders to each man according to the choices of his
heart, upsetting man’s plans and
supports! There is only one thing that remains: To cling to God and commit
oneself and whatever he has to Jesus Christ and count on the loving-kindness
and mercies of God who wants to give him eternal life! If man believed that
it is God who reigns and that He does not want but his good
(1Jo.4:18 and Jer.29:11), then his fears and insecurity
would have disappeared.
Our
safety is the love of God for us and the eternal protection of those that
belong to Him. God said: “Let your conversation be without covetousness;
and be content with such things as you have: for he has said,
I will never leave you, nor forsake you.
So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what
man shall do to me?" (Heb.13:5-6). And, if God is for us, who
can be against us?” (Rom.8:31). “I have been young, and now am old;
yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
(Ps.37:25). Our safety depends on our attachment to Him, our faith in His
words and our confidence in His character. Here is the reason for which it
is written: ... If you do not believe, you shall not survive
(Esa.7:9) and you shall not be established (2Chr.20:20). The
best way of being protected is to humble ourselves before God, to ask Him
from the depths of our hearts to forgive us and to adopt us...
Under His wings, we can be and we can feel protected...
Man
becomes conscious of his situation, of his real needs as well as of the true
source of his security and happiness:
·
when he repents sincerely and
commits his life to God;
·
when he receives the
forgiveness of his sins through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, the
certainty of the salvation of his soul and eternal life;
·
when Christ constitutes the
delight of his heart and his support, He is his treasure and the source of
his riches;
·
when he depends on God and
waits from Him for his material and spiritual blessings and recognizes that
whatever he has, whatever he will have and whatever is going to happen will
be for his good (Isa.48:17);
THEN AND ONLY THEN
is
secure, irrespective of the hard times and testings of life! Then, there is
nothing that will be lacking in his life because Christ has satisfied his
hunger and has quenched his soul’s thirst.
“He
(God) shall cover you with His
feathers, and under His wings you shall trust. His truth shall be your
shield, and buckler.”
(Ps.91:4). Then, “odd and even things are his”!
Then he himself, in his turn, will be able to help others with the light and
the consolations that he will have received from Christ. Then, God will not
permit his child to be deprived of any true good thing (Ps.84:11). Then,
God will protect him from all evil things and will preserve him for his
heavenly kingdom! If man honours God by his faith
in His Word and his confidence
in His character, then God will honour him with his protection and his
blessings. Our true security and our true happiness are only in God who
loved so much the world “…that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world
through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned: but he
that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil” (John 3:16-19). Amen!
John Baltatzis
baltatzis@skynet.be
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