Is It Safe?

I needed a few items from the store in a large town at about 11 pm. I didn’t know the areas of town were good and what areas were more dangerous. When I used to live here about 30 years ago, we lived right on the edge of a bad neighborhood. We were considered safe, but within a number of blocks, it was labeled as being somewhat dangerous. I asked the person working the desk at the hotel if it was a safe area. He declared that it was very safe. It got me thinking of C.S.Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia. In this allegory of the Christian faith, the story tells of the Lion, Aslan who represents Jesus Christ. As the children are told of the coming of this lion, they ask the question, “Is He safe?”. The answer was, “No! But He is good!” Sometimes, we are so wrapped up in being comfortable and secure that I think we shut ourselves off to being used by God. What do I mean? If you want to be comfortable and secure, would you really be open to go into the mission field in another country without assurances of safety? Would you be open to serving in a food kitchen, inner city, or go on a mission trip where life is likely to be unpredictable and a little uncertain? God doesn’t call us to be safe and secure. He doesn’t call us to retire and relax. He calls us to follow Him... to be faithful... to be open to His call... to take up our cross and follow him. I recently heard a prayer in church that petitioned that we might live peaceable and prosperous lives. My first thought was, “No”... is that what God is calling us to do? Since when has our wellbeing been the number one priority in Christian living? It has not. It actually seems about as opposite as we can get. Paul tells us that if we are faithful in our Christian life, we will face persecution. That doesn’t sound safe to me! So, what did it mean in the Chronicles of Narnia to call “Jesus” not safe but good? Was it safe for Jonah? Moses? Abraham? the Apostles? Christians in the early church? Etc. Was it safe for Charlie Kirk? No! But God used each one of them in powerful ways in the church. Some died, but the good news is, that by faith, they entered into heaven. In faith, God uses us to accomplish His will. Father, we tend to define good by getting what we want. You show that good is when lives are transformed and souls are saved. Amen