There are a lot of things in the world that can make us feel insecure. Whole economies can falter within hours, crime and violence are constant realities, corruption often goes hand-in-hand with power, and unfortunately wars can break out any moment in a world that is – truth be told – unstable and broken.
From a young age, we’re taught to do a lot of things to minimize insecurities as much as is in our control. For example: prepare for college, determine a career, expand your resume, make safe investments, and maybe learn good defense skills or how to avoid various physical dangers altogether!
It is wise to prepare and to plan, and to make the best use of the time and life you’ve been given. But usually, at some point, we all come to the realization that no matter how many safeguards we put in place, insecurity is just around the corner and will eventually reach us in some way.
Here’s the big picture: Everything in this world is temporary. Our lives are pretty short. Tomorrow is never promised. And all our possessions and resources could be lost in a moment.
“Surely every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them” (Psalm 39:6).
I don’t say that to cause depression or fear; I say it to point you to another, better, reality in which you can find true peace and security that lasts forever.
None of us know for sure when our life on earth will end. But it will. Then what? You’ll leave all your earthly riches behind, but your soul will last for eternity. Are you busy storing what you need for your eternal future?
An eternal future requires eternal resources, and these are not found in this world, where everything wears out and dies. This is due to sin, which corrupted the good world that God had made, and separated us from Him, the Source of life.
That is why God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth. Because sin eventually leads to death and eternal separation from God in Hell, Jesus came to take our sin upon Himself and die in our place. Because He was both fully God and fully man, He lived a sinless life and could take the eternal penalty for sin (death), but also rise from the grave three days later and become the eternal way to eternal life for all who put their faith and trust in Him (see John 14:6).
Jesus taught us to lay up “treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20). If your heart is rooted in eternity with Jesus Christ, rather than in this temporary and insecure world, you will have a peace and security that no one can steal from you.
While squirrels lose a lot of their food stockpiles to other animals, it’s also true that many of the nuts they bury in the ground will remain there, because there was an overabundance to meet their need. Those nuts eventually grow into trees, continuing the cycle of life in the seasons and years that follow.
In the same way, when you trust in Jesus Christ, you are given an overabundance of blessings like love, joy and peace that can sustain you in this life, no matter what threatens your insecurity, and that can remind you of the perfect, eternal life to come.
“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
Trust in Jesus to meet all your needs. Find assurance and purpose in Him today.