A Perfectly Safe Place

 By Pat Russell

“With this magnificent God positioned among us, Jesus brings assurance that our universe is a perfectly safe place for us to be.”  The first time I read this in The Divine Conspiracy (ch. 3, p. 66), I wrote “WOW!”  in the margin. After I heard Dallas lecture on this at the Renovare Institute I thought, “Hmmmm… Can this truly be? Dallas, what do you do with all the ‘injuries’ that come to people on this earth? Specifically, what do you do with all of my life experiences that have not felt safe?” Today, a few years later I think, "What would you do with something like the Corona virus?"

After discussing Jesus' words in Matthew 6, “My advice would be not to worry about what is going to happen to you…,” Dallas writes in his book, “This bold and slyly humorous assurance about all the basic elements of our existence – food and drink and clothing and other needs of life – can only be supported on a clear-eyed vision that a totally good and competent God is right here with us to look after us. And his presence is precisely what the word heaven, or more accurately the heavens in plural, convey in the biblical record as well as through much of Christian history… Nothing – no human being or institution, no time, no space, no spiritual being, no event – stands between God and those who trust him. The heavens are always there with you no matter what, and the first heaven, in biblical terms is precisely the atmosphere or air that surrounds your body.”

I must admit that I come to this idea with two thoughts: the first is very cerebral, “Yes, of course, God is present everywhere and watches out for me.” The other thought is from my life experience of two cancers and a major heart issue, not to mention several life dreams that have never been realized. It goes something like this: “Can I really believe that he notices me, that he is out for my best. I have not really been safe from pain and major disappointments. And it may be that I will not be safe from the Corona virus, either!” 

But then, maybe I have been safe. After all of the onslaughts from being on this earth, I find that my soul is still intact. My mind is more grounded in the reality of the statement by Dallas, "I am an unceasing spiritual being with an eternal destiny in God's great universe." My body is not in the best shape, but I sleep with less worry and that in turn nourishes my body. And my emotions are moving into a more positive direction as I dwell on His steadfast love and mercy. Hmmm, maybe “safe” is not the “safe” I have expected out of life. Maybe it is something much bigger and deeper and higher and wider than I ever comprehended. 

Lately I have been spending time meditating on Paul’s conversation with the Athenians in Acts 17. I am so taken up by his quote from their own poets as he explains the unknown God to these thinkers: “For in him we live and move and have our being.” I have walked out onto the Colorado hillside next to our home in the early morning hours just as the sun is coming up. I stand under a beautiful blue canopy, sometimes bedded in clouds that are like the hands of God gently covering me. He is as near as my breath and nearer. I live and move in him. In truth, I cannot fully take that into my being, but sometimes, sometimes I feel so very, very safe.

How do you understand Dallas’ comment about the universe being a “perfectly safe place for us to be”?  What has happened to you that makes this statement believable or unbelievable for your life?