Ensuring safety is a big business. Whether you play sports, bank online, own a home or car, safety equipment, systems, software and alarms can be purchased to keep our stuff safe. But, do these systems guarantee our safety?

Trauma

I’ve never had my identity or car stolen, my home has never been broken into, and I’ve never been accosted in a parking lot. But recently, I experienced an accident on my bike that left me with a concussion, even while wearing a helmet. 

It was during an early morning 65 mile bike ride on a paved trail. My sister was in the lead. Looking up I noticed a metal post warning riders to slow down. Suddenly I was no longer on my bike. Instead, I was sitting on the ground, my helmet missing from my head, and my sister and a stranger asking me, “Are you okay?” I asked them, “What happened?”

Apparently, I’d hit the post even though I’d known it was there. As my head cleared, I recalled how the sun had been in my eyes impairing my view. 

I recovered from the concussion, and a few weeks later, we took the same trail again. This time I had better sunglasses and I stayed alert as we neared intersections with metal posts warning riders to slow down. Fortunately, I did not have the same accident twice.

Recuperating from minor physical injuries takes time, but if we are in good health, we usually mend and then learn from our mishaps; to be a little more alert and cautious of dangers so that we don’t repeat our mishap. 

But not only are we susceptible to physical adverse events and accidents, there are also the emotional ones that occur as well. One statistic states that 80% of the people experience an adverse event during childhood. In my case, it was my father’s suicide. 

The death of a parent is hard on a kid, but when a parent takes their own life, it is way beyond what any kid can understand.

 One of the residual effects my father’s suicide had on my life was that I was constantly on guard, fortifying myself against anything that felt remotely dangerous such as relationships with other people. I reasoned that if I ever allowed myself to trust anyone ever again, I was sure to be disappointed, hurt and abandoned. It was a lousy way to live, with no assurance or guarantee other than I’d be lonely and unhappy. And I was. 

Learning to trust again and let down my guard was a lot more complicated than recovering from my concussion. It involved more than buying a better pair of sunglasses more than being alert and cautious to the dangers on a bike trail. 

Learning to trust again involved taking baby steps in my faith, bit by bit giving up my self reliance and relying on Someone more reliable than myself. With caution and timidity I spent time sharing my fears, concerns, hopes and dreams with God and then listened for a response. More often than not, the words of wisdom or comfort came from recalling a truth from scripture. In time, I discovered that my assurance of safety does not come from any system contrived by me, rather my safety is ensured by the one who is completely worthy of my trust. 

Why bother with safety? Safety is important, but more important is knowing who keeps us safe.