Have you ever watched the scene in Princess Diaries where Anne Hathaway’s character Mia rocks up to her grandmother’s mansion for the first time. Rather than walking along the stone pathway, she cuts corners and starts walking across the grass to which she is met with an abrasive loudspeaker command to “GET OFF THE GRASS!” The funniest part is that it continues by repeating the command in additional languages before ending. In the wee hours of the late night or early morning, you can hear, especially if near my closet or bathroom, a sensor-triggered announcement coming from a factory of sorts across the giant train-track-mound behind my apartment. It’s only truly distinguishable when the city goes to sleep, that is as much as a noisy city can. But when the world is still and my home is quiet, I hear it as clearly as if I were there. “THIS IS A SECURE AREA,” the loudspeaker booms. Followed by at least 2 additional languages, it makes me think of the scene from Princess Diaries every time. It doesn’t stop there, however, it begins to remark something or other about a recording that is taking place on the premises. Perhaps to scare a potential intruder extra? (I’m sure the raccoons and rats that trip this sensor are shaking in their boots– HA!) As I heard this late last night, I couldn’t help but realize, as I approach a brand new year, what a whopping synopsis of my 2021 year this booming command portrays.
I remember entering the 2021 calendar year with quite a lot of silence from God. I was begging Him for a word– begging Him for any semblance of vision and direction for my year. He felt quiet; however, not necessarily in a bad way. It was a “still” kind of quiet like when one is at rest or sleeping. I remember on NYE night, in the thick of my panic from not hearing anything, I suddenly heard lyrics blaring outside my window that stopped me dead in my tracks. “Have no fear. God’s not worried. He’s still here. He’s still working. He’s not done. He’s not finished yet.” It was a song I had never heard before, and especially not outside my apartment. I opened my windows and let this resounding phrase fill my home. Here I was worried about His silence on the very last day of the year, when rather than the usual hip hop, rap, mariachi, or mazurka that I normally hear coming from my apartment corridor, I heard worship music. It was a shock to me. I sat at my window and listened until it ceased.
Like in Matthew 8, when Jesus is simply sleeping in the bottom of the boat while the disciples panic as a massive wind storm rages overhead, sometimes His silence is candidly faith-filled peace. My NYE night situation felt parallel in so many ways to that story. Why do we panic so much when God is seemingly silent? It was as if in an annoyed moment, like Jesus to the disciples in Matthew 8:26, when He remarks, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?,” He hushed my panic in an instant with the lyrics that reverberated outside my window. I felt as though He was responding, “You of little faith, Sarah, don’t you know by now that I always give you what you need? That I am never late in coming or speaking? I will always secure the vision you need in My timing.” *ZING!* It’s true. He does. One of my favorite translations of a verse about vision in the Bible is in The Message version of Habakkuk 2:3 where it says, “. . . If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its way. It will come right on time.”
It wasn’t until January 2nd that God dropped revelation on my heart of the word that would anchor my entire year: security.
When I finally started to hear God speaking, He didn’t stop. SECURITY ended up meaning so many more things than I would have imagined. My pen couldn’t scribble out quick enough what security would mean:
Security in His Presence. Security in my footing. Security in my appointment. Security in myself: truly finding confidence that I am every bit secure in who He made me to be. Security of provision– HIS provision not what the world deems is provision. Security in friendships and relationships. Security in my joy. Security in celebrating others at all times because no one’s success means a lack of my own. Security in how God meets my every lack and gives me authority to lead what He has placed in my hands. Security in His plan and timing. Security of my quirkiness. Security in the words and thoughts He brings me to share with others. Further security of my life-calling. Security of vision. He said that I can have true security of heart. Security over my emotions. Security over my tongue. Security over which thoughts I allow to enter or dwell in my mind. Security from the schemes of the enemy. Security in HIS gaze, not the gaze of others. Security in HIS opinions of me, not the opinions of others. Security that no matter how amazing, beautiful, successful, fun, in-love-with-Him, and called to Kingdom someone else is, does not take away from who He has made and called me to uniquely and individually be. Security in the lane He has for me. Security in His stillness. Security of rest in Him.
Security in all ways.
As I always do when hearing a word from God, I go to the dictionary to see if there are more definitions of the word than I know.
Merriam-Webster defines security as:
1 : the quality or state of being secure: such as
a : freedom from danger : SAFETY
b : freedom from fear or anxiety
c : freedom from the prospect of being laid off // job security
2 : something given, deposited, or pledged to make certain the fulfillment of an obligation // SURETY
3 : an instrument of investment in the form of a document (such as a stock certificate or bond) providing evidence of its ownership
4 : something that secures : PROTECTION
a : measures taken to guard against espionage or sabotage, crime, attack, or escape
b : an organization or department whose task is security
When I say I learned security in every way, shape, form, definition, and semblance that I have ever known, I’m not kidding. God meets every definition of security in our lives, and He reminded me in a million different ways all year long. The cool thing about God is that I know I’ll be learning this word in new ways for the rest of my life. His omniscience astounds me. Just when we think we’ve learned something, He will give us a new spin on it, but never again do I have to revel in insecurity. Yes, there will always be insecurity. Everyone in the entire world, whether wanting to admit it or not, deals with varying degrees of insecurity in a myriad of ways. While insecurity will always be a thing to conquer, what God taught me this year about security makes it ten-times easier to squash in any given moment.
It would truly take an entire book to outline the many ways God reminded me of His everlasting, larger-than-life security, but my awareness of it is greater than any year prior. So last night when I heard the booming command outside my window on the eve of the last day of the year declare, “THIS IS A SECURE AREA,” I knew that the same can be said about me. After an entire year of learning His true and unwavering security, if anything trips my sensor, let it be known that this announcement will ring true. No human word or opinion, no scheme or trick of the enemy, no self-doubt or harsh self-criticism can take down my security. It may rattle me for a moment in tripping my sensor, but it’s not too long after when the announcement thunders authoritatively, “THIS IS A SECURE AREA.”
Job 11:18 (NIV) You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.
Psalm 94:18-19 (NIV) When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.
Proverbs 29:25 (MSG) The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that.
Psalm 91:14-16 (TPT) For here is what the Lord has spoken to me: “Because you loved me, delighted in me, and have been loyal to my name, I will greatly protect you. I will answer your cry for help every time you pray, and you will feel my presence in your time of trouble. I will deliver you and bring you honor. I will satisfy you with a full life and with all that I do for you. For you will enjoy the fullness of my salvation.”
Psalm 40:1-3 (NIV) I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.
Security in Him, alone, brings us closer to enjoying the true fullness of our salvation in Him! Insecurity is like standing in a muddy, slimy pit. Security in Him puts us on firm ground; it takes us out of the muck. It is from His security we can sing praises of deep joy, thankfulness, gratitude, and love to our Savior in the midst of the unknown. It is from His security our awe and wonder of Him multiplies. It is from His security we can be who He has created us to be and live in immense faith and hope. It’s no coincidence the last verse in the passage above from Psalm 40 states, “Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.” It’s from a place of clinging to His security and putting our trust in Him in the trials and uncharted, unfamiliar seasons of life that we draw the attention of those who are lost to our Savior. When we can stand in difficult seasons in His peace-filled, joy-encompassed security, it shows others they can do the same. “Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.” Draw close to Him, and you won’t be able to leave without gleaning the relieving truth of His security.
SecureSpaces 