Friday, November 30, 2001
It was always a highlight when our friend Dave invited out family to go sailing with him on his sailboat. And he really knew his stuff - he'd been sailing on Long Island Sound since he was a boy. I remember one spectacular day when we were out with him, and in spite of the beauty around us, he thought we should head for the harbor. Somehow, he had sensed rough weather coming. Sure enough, we reached the harbor just as the skies opened up. I was glad we were in the harbor. Dave told me he had actually stayed on his boat during the last hurricane that hit. He got blown around a lot, but he and his boat were OK - because they were inside the harbor, inside the hurricane gate.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "One Safe Place."
The world's gotten pretty stormy lately, hasn't it? There's a lot of uncertainty, anxiety, even fear about what the future holds. We need a harbor - a place where we can be safe while the storm rages around us. And there can be one. Our word for today from the Word of God talks about it.
Proverbs 14:26 says, "He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge." Now there's a verse for our times, don't you think? A home that is built God's way is a secure fortress and a refuge for that family - a harbor in the middle of the hurricane.
Frankly, there's not much you can do to make our airlines safe, or our public buildings or our cities safe. But there is a world where you do have some control - the world of the people you love and the people who love you. And in a very real way, you are their security - much more than the government or the military can ever be. If they feel safe in your love, that's their "secure fortress."
So one important question for turbulent times is this - Does my family feel safe in my love? Does my husband or wife feel safe in my love? Do my children feel safe in my love?
Maybe not if you're too busy to be there for the important moments in their life. Or if they feel like you're just not listening to them. It's hard to feel safe in someone's love when they talk most of the time and seldom listen to you. How can they possibly understand you?
The people you care about may not feel safe in your love if you talk a lot more about what they're doing wrong than what they're doing right. Could it be that you've been too critical, too negative? They need your affirmation to feel safe in your love. They're not going to feel safe if they feel they're constantly competing for you with some other love - your job, your ministry, your hobby, your friends, sports, the TV, the telephone. Or if you have a wandering eye or a wandering heart.
After the events of September 11, 2001, in New York and Washington, I saw a cartoon that touched me. There were headlines all over about terrorist attacks and war in the picture. But in the middle of them was a little girl sleeping soundly, with her Daddy's arms around her.
Now that's where your family's sense of safety really is - in your loving arms. Whether you're a parent, a spouse, a sibling, a grandparent, an aunt or uncle - you are a harbor in a stormy world. Make sure they feel safe in your love.