Safety is of the Lord

Earlier this week, I went on a solo trip to the coast to see if I could get some progress made on the sequel to my novel. Staying by myself, even at home, is always a struggle for me, but when I ran across a news article about how unsafe it is for women to stay alone in hotels, I quickly made the leap from looking forward to my trip to dreading it.

A friend reminded me that my mindset about the trip shouldn’t be based on a news story, but on the fact that God—the God who made the universe and has total power over all things—is always with me. That helped, but I still woke Monday morning feeling more than a little apprehensive about the trip.

But that first night, God brought to mind a verse:

“The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord.”

I had done everything I could to be safe and to make my hotel room secure, but now I had to do the hard thing: I had to choose to rest in the fact that safety is of the Lord. I had to put my safety in His keeping—where it had been all along—and let Him give me the grace and peace He always has ready and waiting for me.

So I did… over and over again, from that moment until the moment I finally pulled into my driveway two days later.

You see, I have an overactive imagination which has not necessarily been fed with good things over the years, so throughout my trip, I had to reign my thoughts in to keep from going down the “what if” road that inevitably stirs up anxiety and fear.

It’s a lesson I have to relearn periodically, and it’s something that takes intentional work.  I didn’t respond to my fear perfectly or consistently the way I knew I should this time, but it was still just one more occasion in which I chose to take those faltering steps of faith and found God faithful, present, and ready with all the help I needed.

So, dear reader, if you find yourself facing fear and uncertainty this week, remember that while it is right to prepare the horse for battle, safety is ultimately from the Lord. Choose trust over fear, and He will pour out His peace and grace upon you.

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.” Psalm 56:3