Safe
“…just being near the Lord stills my anxious thoughts. Being in His presence is the safest place. ”
“The Lord is my shepherd;
I have what I need.
He lets me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside quiet waters.
He renews my life;
he leads me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even when I go through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:1-4 CSB)
Gracious these blog posts are getting more spaced out than I’d like. I miss writing here. But, life. I’m hoping to come back here more often. I’ve got a list of ideas to share with you. So, let’s start with this one :-)
I remember running to my parents’ bedroom when I had nightmares as a little girl. It was a safe place. No matter what, if I could just get there, I knew I’d be safe. A lot of you probably did this too. Well, my daughter, Avery, has been struggling lately with bad dreams and missing me because I’ve traveled a good bit for my work. My husband and I try to use wisdom here. We don’t want to create a habit of her not sleeping in her own room. But goodness, when she looks at me with her big, beautiful brown eyes brimming with tears, it’s hard for me to say “no.”
A few weeks ago, Avery came into the living room after she had been in her bed for a while. She’d had a bad dream, and she begged to sleep with me. I picked her up, carried her to my bed, and we snuggled up for the night. Her tears began to dry, and she put her little hand on my cheek and said, “Mama, I just feel safe with you. I just need to be close to you.” My heart exploded. Her breathing slowed, her eyes closed, and she drifted off into peaceful sleep simply because she was in my presence—the place she feels the safest.
The new year is a bit troublesome for me. Three years ago, my family walked through tremendous loss on New Year’s Day. Since then, my feelings toward each brand new year have shifted. Instead of approaching it with excitement, I’ve been cautiously approaching it with a sense of dread. I feel a surge of “what if’s” and anxiety—a bracing for what else may come. The bracing manifests even in the way my body holds tension, and the struggle becomes physical. Loss does that to you sometimes. The new year doesn’t feel safe anymore. Even now, almost a month into 2024, I feel the bracing.
That moment with Avery made me realize a few important truths:
I’m safe with the Lord. And you are too.
I didn’t have to do anything to make Avery feel safe. Simply being near me triggered a response in her little heart and body. Similarly, just being near the Lord stills my anxious thoughts. Being in His presence is the safest place. I have found “…for me, God’s presence is my good” (Psalm 73:28). Did you catch that? Just His presence is enough to trigger a response in our hearts, minds, and bodies as well. He’s a good Shepherd who watches over us, and this imagery is just beautiful. During this time period, shepherds spent almost every moment with their sheep. Because sheep were exceptionally vulnerable at night, shepherds often stayed awake during the night to watch over them while they slept. Sheep are never safer than when they’re with the Shepherd. We’re safe with ours too. He’s watching out, He knows our circumstances, and He’s protecting us even when we’re walking in the darkest valleys. Notice that David, the writer of this psalm, says when I go through the valley, meaning we can expect them. But we can approach them without fear because God is near. He’s so very near.
I don’t have to brace myself. And neither do you.
I don’t want to live always bracing. I don’t want to wait in a state of tension and anxiety for the next dark shadow. Because doing so causes me to miss so much of the sunlight here and now. We miss the present moment when we live in fear of the future. I want to live my life fully trusting in God’s faithfulness. I want to approach each new year, month, day, and minute with the knowledge that God is holding it all together, and because of that truth, I can relax my shoulders, I can lay my head down at night, and I can rest. You can too.
I don’t know if I’m alone in these thoughts. I don’t know what circumstances you’re in or the ones you may be dreading. But I do know that our God is a Shield, a Fortress, a Protector, a Provider. He’s Peace. And you’re completely and utterly safe with Him no matter what may come.