In a world in which we are all just walking each other Home, we're also all looking for safe spaces along the way. Shelters in the storm. Refuges from the weary brokenness of this world. And, quite honestly, someone who is just walking us home.
And we have all been wounded by folks who have turned out not to be safe at all.
Folks who couldn't keep our secrets. Who used our story as fodder for gossip. Folks who don't actually have an interest in us but have a great interest in knowing things and who build their reputation on always being in the know. Actually, that's why we gravitate toward them; they always seem to know what's going on, so we think that makes them a reliable source of confidence when, in fact, some of the persons who are always in the know are quite toxic. Knowing, not loving, is their thing.
Folks who thrive on drama. They love inserting themselves into everything because it fuels them. And they have this unique ability to blow everything up in their mind and make mountains out of molehills...and then instantly be willing to die on them. They create their big stories out of your little one and there's not an ounce of anything you can tell them that will change their mind. They take your life and they run away with it and all of a sudden, you're completely out of control of your own being. Forget being safe; you just want your story back.
Folks who are so distracted by their own story that they can't invest in yours. We live in a world that listens to respond more than it listens to love, and this is true in the ways that we relate to one another. Sometimes, we think we've found a kindred spirit and a safe person, but if we look at it a little closer, we realize that we're just trading war stories; neither one of us is doing anything about the foxhole we're in.
Yes, sadly, safe persons are hard to find. We're all so laden with our own baggage that it's hard to find someone who is able to push it all aside and truly be the kind of refuge we need (unless you're willing to pay a professional for the privilege, but even then, it's not a guarantee).
But on this journey we're all making Home, we do have one good Friend along the way. One truly Safe Space. One set of arms into which to fall, one heart to hear beating, one embrace that makes all things well.
God, the prophet Joel says, is a safe place for His people (3:15-16).
In the darkest of days, in the hardest of times, when the sun and moon go dark and the stars no longer shine and thunder roars and the whole earth trembles, God will be a safe place.
A shelter in the storm. A refuge from the weary brokenness of this world. A strong fortress on a shaking ground. The whole earth may tremble, but God's hold on us is strong. He takes us in His hands and covers us.
Loving is His thing.
He doesn't share our secrets; He whispers love into our ears. He doesn't thrive on our drama; He restores our soul. He's not so distracted by being God that He can't invest in us; we are His treasure. In all the ways that we fail each other and are failed by each other in this world just looking for one safe place, God never fails. Not once.
And that's how, the prophet continues, we know He is the Lord.
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