By: Sarah Nutter
“But whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Proverbs 1:33
I stumbled across Proverbs 1:33 this morning while I was curled up in my bed, snuggled under the covers. One of the first times I had ever been home alone was when I was nine years old. My parents had a meeting at church, and my older sister was at a friend’s house. For the life of me I couldn’t remember why I turned down the invitation to join her. Something about being all grown-up and able to take care of myself in an empty house had great appeal. I was so stupid.
Well, I expected my parents to be home at around 10pm. So when I heard a noise at the back of my house at 8:45, I was more than surprised. I was terrified. I saw the doorknob rattling. You know how when you picture yourself in a terrifying situation, you imagine that you’ll be able to act quickly and end up saving the day? Well, I did none of the sort. I just stood there. I literally could not move, and that scared me more than anything. Someone was trying to break into my house to kill me. That’s all I could think about.
It turns out, my mom’s meeting had run short. Words cannot express the relief that went through my head when I saw her. Then, of course, I was mad at her for freaking me out.
As I read Proverbs 1:33, I remembered that episode and I can still hear the horrifying thoughts that went through my head at the time. I know that I overreacted, but I really thought I would be murdered. Not a great way to spend a Saturday night.
My reaction that night was typical, but the one thing I didn’t even think to do was pray. It’s like the times we think to ourselves that if someone ever put a gun to our head and threatened to kill us if we said we believed in God. We think we would automatically admit our faith and become martyrs. But until that situation really happens to us, we can’t actually know how we’ll react. Scary thought.
But Proverbs 1:33 tells us that if we listen to God and cling to His protection, we’ll have no REASON to be afraid. Now, it would be awesome if that ensured we won’t be mugged in the middle of Chicago. But stuff like that does happen, but we have no reason to be afraid because no one can harm us eternally. Once we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior, our future is all planned out – set in stone. So, let the bad guys come…err, whatever. The point is, no matter what, God is watching over us and He’ll carry us home after we’ve fulfilled His purpose for us on earth.
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