Finding our true security.
by Trey Graham
In the summer of 1994, I visited the safest place in the United States. I can honestly say I stood in the most protected room in this entire nation.
During one of my visits to Washington, D.C., another Army officer, assigned to the White House military office, asked if I would like to experience something that few people have ever seen. Of course, I agreed, and he proceeded to take me to the bomb shelter beneath the White House that would house the President and his family if nuclear attack or civil unrest ever hit the city of Washington.
This Army captain showed me the briefing rooms for the Cabinet members, the housing for the troops that would be assigned to guard our nation’s leaders, and even the living quarters for the First Family. I realized at that moment that I was standing in the single most protected spot in the United States, that no other room in America could provide equal safety or protection from harm.
In my experience, then, the safest place in this country is in Washington D.C. But the safest place in this world, the safest place in your world and mine, is wherever the sovereign God of the universe takes us. You can be no more secure, you can build no thicker walls, you can find no greater protection than being in the very center of God’s divine will for your life. If God calls you to a place, you can be sure He has gone before you and prepared the way.
Finding security
To a child, the loving arms of a parent provide safety and comfort that can be found in no other. For the newlyweds, a hug from a spouse says “I will be with you always and we will make this work, together.” For the Christian, when pains come and plans fail, security is found in the powerful, faithful, loving hands of God.
Imagine . . . for the prophet Daniel, the safest place in the world was in a lion’s den. For the Paul, one of the apostles, it was in a prison. For another of Christ’s followers, John the Beloved, it was in exile.
For Helen Keller, the safest place in the world was a silent, dark world. Mother Teresa found safety in an Indian slum. For Jesus the Nazarene, the safest place in the world was on a wooden cross between two thieves.
Without God, these places would be hell. With God, these places are the classrooms that teach us character, the courtrooms where we testify of His glory, the churches in which we worship our risen Lord and Savior.
Being where God is
Where is the safest place in the world for you? Tim Cypert, a minister in Rockwall, after recovering from a bone marrow transplant (and only receiving a 30 percent chance of survival), said, “I would rather have cancer and live in the will of God than not have cancer and be out of the will of God.”
Wow, that is faith. More faith than most of us will ever know. Cancer, a safe place? You bet. Why? Because God was there.
I don’t know where God is going to take you. It may be Washington, D.C., it may be New York City, or it may be Abilene. God may take you to the moon, He may put you in battle or sentence you to prison. Remember, though, wherever He sends you, He is there. And where God is, ultimate safety reigns.
As Salmon Portland Chase said in 1861, “No nation can be strong except in the strength of God or safe except in His defense.” In the White House, there are walls and barricades and troops to protect the single most influential person on the planet: the President of the United States. In the safest place in the world, however, you need no walls or bombs or troops; you need only Him.
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe.” God, take me anywhere, as long as You go with me.
About the Author
Trey Graham, of Plano, TX, is the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Melissa, TX (www.fbcmelissa.net) and the founder of Faith Walk Ministries (www.faithwalk ministries.com). He is a popular speaker and the author of the inspirational book of short stories Lessons for the Journey. Trey’s articles have been published in the editorial sections of the Dallas Morning News, the Amarillo Globe-Times, and the Beaumont Enterprise, as well as numerous guest columns published in the religion section of the Dallas Morning News. In addition, Trey has had articles published in Christian magazines across the United States and Canada, including Plain Truth, Christian Courier, Alive! Light, DFW Heritage Newspaper, Worldwide Challenge, Proclaim, and Growing Churches. He can be reached at trey.graham@ west-point.org or via http://www.faithwalk ministries.com.