Risk vs Security

“Safety and security work against freedom.”

I ran across a version of this quotation twice this week in my evening reading.

The first author was writing on finances. The second encounter was in a book on societies.

This truism is also applicable when we resolve to lead our families further into God’s Kingdom. Its dynamic is perfectly illustrated in Israel’s journey:

Israel’s tribes were offered freedom in a blessed land if they would trust God enough to follow Him there. So far, so good.

But then, caught between the threat of Egypt’s army and the sea, the tribes lamented ever having set out on the journey. Slavery was safer.

Not much later in the journey they lament:

If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted.  – Exodus 16:3

It is true. Slavery feels safer. And it is certainly easier.

C.S. Lewis is known to have suggested: our God is not safe. And He never promises safety. But He is good – beyond what we can imagine.

It makes sense that the journey into His Kingdom is truly good, but is also truly challenging and not at all what we thought it would be when we set out.

In our journey Sarah and I often feel God gently nudging us – gently calling us to take steps for the sake of our children’s well-being, or for our well-being – to make our home more of a sanctuary of God’s Kingdom.

Often, we don’t feel equipped or ready for what it demands of us – even though we know each step will take us closer to Him and His Kingdom promises.

Much of our journey into God's Kingdom is God pulling us away from what is comfortable, toward an unknown goodness. One risk at a time.

In each leg of the journey – in each small obedience – we leave a bit more of our safety and security behind. Until one day we realize we have truly become God’s People along the way: courageous, bold, wild, and free in ways we didn't know could be ours.