SCANDALOUS
June 20th, 2022
LOVE IS…a Safe Place of Shelter (v.13:7)
1 Corinthians 13:8, 13, ‘Love never stops loving. It extends beyond the gift of prophecy, which eventually fades away. It is more enduring than tongues, which one day will fall silent. Love remains long after words of knowledge are forgotten…Until then, there are three things that remain: faith, hope and love—yet love surpasses them all. So, above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run.’ (TPT)
Trusts God always!
There is no safer place to be than in the center of God’s plan for your life. Trust in Him is too often a missing piece of a puzzle but it is essential for life. Yet we don’t understand the magnitude of its value, so we discount its importance. Trusting in God is a safety net that catches us no matter from where we fall. For instance, if we TRUST God, then no matter what, we can be assured of His intervention in our lives. Even if things go awry or do not go as we hoped or planned, we are able to be certain it will all work out just as it should. Because we have entrusted it to the Lord, our best interest is at the very beat of His heart.
Imagine a home that is built on the edge of a cliff that overlooks an ocean. Close your eyes for a minute as I bet you can picture it if I paint it for you. There is a long and winding road traveling across a vast meadow that leads to a magnificent home. The field is dotted with wildflowers and towering trees and bunnies hop from bush to bush while deer feast on tufts of wild grasses blowing in a gentle breeze. The home is majestic, built of stone, with large wraparound decks and tall wooden doors. Glistening windows oversee an endless horizon and buoyant waves. A zillion diamonds reflect the rays of a setting sun whose final light is cast over a vibrant garden planted far above the shore below where exotic flowers blossom and wild roses grow on a wrought iron gate; where walls created of traveling ivy and healthy vines shelter its inhabitants. Puffins and boobies hover over the waters and occasionally dip in for a fish or a swim while gulls screech their persistent cry.
Sounds beautiful, doesn’t it? And peaceful. Sturdy and safe. A place anyone would be a fool not to wish to go for a stay.
Now picture the very same home huddled on the edge of the same cliff towering forlornly far above a choppy and stormy sea, where angry waves twenty-feet tall crash against an empty shore and hurricane winds beat at wooden doors and spray windows with blasts of sand. The seabirds attempt flight but are no match for the horrific winds and soon give up; their cries lonely and lost in the gusts. There will be no sun again today; no one ventures outside, but rather, remain glued to the weather channel as it is feared the edge of the cliff is weakened by the storm and may give way at any moment. The family hidden within the walls should have evacuated days before but cannot fathom abandoning their home. So, they stay, and imagine the worst and pray for the best. The way to life beyond this tempest is clotted with debris and ice and snow; the unseen a deterrent for what might lie ahead.
These are two very clear pictures of what living in Christ and apart from Christ can be like, what the safety features provided by God to a child of His is and what it is like apart from Him. Trusting in God and being hidden in the shelter of His protection is the majestic home that sits above a peaceful ocean, one who sees as far as the eye can see. A life built on a foundation apart from Christ, one that doesn’t have the safe shelter of His love and faithfulness is the same home, yet it attempts survival warring against hurricane storms. It is battered by life and choices, but there is nothing that boasts of safety and shelter.
You have a hiding place, a safe shelter, a warm harbor, that can always be found in Christ Jesus. You can burrow down in His love for you because it is safe; you can satisfy your longings within the borders of trusting in Him because He cares for you deeply. His love for you is unending and it is safe above all else.
Psalm 91:1 says, ‘He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him will I trust. (NKJV)”’
So many weddings happen every year during the month of June; so many ‘I do’s’ are spoken that eventually become ‘I don’t’s’, because we understand so little about love, God’s love, and the safety of it, the protection in it. What would happen if we too loved like that and always offered a safe place for anyone to land?
