I believe all of us desire a safe place, where we can be completely vulnerable even weak and yet completely accepted. Often it seems as if the world is a minefield, where there is no place safe and without trouble. I have found in 16 years of doing counseling, that this is one of the most important environments I can partner with God to create. Safety and security is one of the core needs of every human being, I know this because as people get older and more fragile security and safety become very important. On Maslow's hierarchy of needs, safety and security are foundational needs after basic physical needs (food, clothing, and shelter) then after safety and security comes love/belonging. God invites us into place of abiding and dwelling in Him, a place of not only safety and security but also love and belonging. Does your heart need a home, a place you know you are safe, loved, and accepted? I have seen many people, including myself, who because of lack of love and safety in parents love decided to build their own walls of self-protection and security. These walls seek to keep out those that are not safe or threaten a person's safety, yet these walls are not discretionary and even begin to keep out those we long for connection with. A person may seem secure outwardly, yet inside there is a little boy or girl searching for a safe place for their heart. Insecurity, anxiety, and worry can indicate that the safe place a person has built is their own creation and not one created by God. In Psalm 91 we are invited to dwell in the shelter of the Most High, to dwell is to live and have our heart anchored in this relationship that is our safe place. I have realized that I have not had a continual safe place for my heart. I have looked to trust in my walls, in others who would be safe place for me, or in financial security. Yet all of these have failed to continually meet my need for a safe place for my heart because Father has invited me to look to Him to be the safe place my heart has longed for. It is a painful but truly reality, that what we construct to meet our needs must be torn down or decay so that we can receive the revelation of what Father wants to be for us. Why were so many drawn to Jesus when they were hurting, in need of healing, failing in meeting their own needs, or simply had no other place to go? Notice that the "religious elite" of the day were not a safe place, since they were constantly pointing and judging those they determined to be "unclean". Religion does not have a safe place for our hearts, like the condemning and accusing finger of the stern and cold nun it demands that we be perfect for acceptance. Religion always points to the place we are lacking demanding that we strive, work harder, or change what doesn't measure up to the standard. Religion is an endless taskmaster with no end in sight since we are such "sinners" that need to be made holy, yet all the responsibility to be made holy is put on the person. Jesus walked in stark contrast to religion, He accepted and welcomed people that religion would not even get close to. At the core of religion is those who don't have a safe place in Father's arms, they do not have the freedom to be weak, flawed, and in need. Religious pride is one of the most dangerous belief systems because they are often claiming to represent Jesus and carrying out their deeds in His name. Those who are caught up in religion have no safe place for their hearts, as evidenced by striving, lack of rest, wearing masks, and constantly hiding sins or weaknesses. Jesus was so magnetic to those who were hurting, hungry, and felt inadequate, they often would crowd Him and barrage Him with their constant needs. Jesus was a safe place but not for religion and those who were the religious elite, they spied Jesus as a trouble-maker, agitator, and One who threatened their whole way of living. Look at the list of who Jesus welcomed- a leper, an adulterer, a woman who had a long list of relationships, drunkards, Samaritans (the unfit race), woman with an issue of blood, a woman who was of ill-repute (some say a prostitute), a humble Roman Centurion, a religious leader who would only see him under the cover of darkness, a corrupt tax collector who had stolen money, a man who was a paralytic and couldn't even get to Jesus on his own, and blind men who couldn't even earn a living on their own. Not a list of of the who's who of society, there seemed to be nothing of outward value in these people yet they had a hunger for a safe place and longed to find it in the arms of the Messiah. It is no wander I have been drawn to those that are hurting, in need, have problems they can't fix, and are hungry for more. Jesus was drawn to them to and they were drawn to Him.
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