Where Are We Safe?

A dear friend just returned from a closed country with a Communist ruler. While she was gone, two places she previously lived (Omaha and Denver) were hit with tragic violence ... and she walked the streets at night alone, something she never does here. More and more, people in the US are asking, "Where are we safe?" When some churches are protected by armed security, it's a question the body of Christ faces in a very real way.

Lest we think it's never been this violent anywhere in the world -- remember the history lessons of Hitler and Stalin; the human sacrifices of the Aztecs and Incas; the brutal warfare of the Assyrians and Babylonians. From the time Cain shed Abel's blood, violence has filled the earth to one degree or another.

And yet Scripture, of course, holds the answer. David exhorts us to take refuge, not in a country, or a leader, or even a political system, but in God Himself. He is our place of refuge ... the only place we are truly "safe" - whatever swirls around us.

Psalm 16
16:1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;I have no good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.
4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
11 You make known to me the path of life;in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.