In Only Seven Seconds
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this I will be confident. – Psalm 27:1-2 NKJV.
Four Florida fishermen can testify to how rapidly circumstances can change. They were 20 miles offshore and had caught six sharks when their boat suddenly sank. It sank and disappeared completely from view in seven seconds. The men were not wearing life jackets, and there was not any time to find them, and put them on. They had all of the latest communications equipment including a GPS locator, but none of that equipment, or the life jackets helped them a bit when it was all on the ocean floor. The men did find a cell phone that one of the men had placed in a plastic bag, and help finally arrived after they had treaded water for about two hours in the shark infested waters. One of the fishermen said, talking about any future fishing trips, “As God is my witness, I will have my own life jacket on, and I will have a three-pack pack of flares.”
Our circumstances in life can change very rapidly. David had experienced this personally as he very quickly went from being a national hero after he killed the giant Goliath to being hunted like an animal by King Saul. At first, David and his men thought that safety was to be found in the distance they could put between themselves and the King. They had fled to the Philistine city of Gath, where David found it necessary to pretend to be insane in order to escape. David had hid in the cave of Adullam and had been to Moab to find a safe place for his elderly parents. The prophet Gad brought word from the Lord that David should return to Judah, and there they hid in the forest of Hereth.
David and his men looked for safety in many different places; however, David finally discovered that safety was not in a place, but in a person. David shouts this revelation in Psalm 27, “The Lord is my light and my salvation,” “The Lord is the strength of my life,” “Though an army may encamp against me,” “though war should rise against me” – even if those things were to happen David realizes, “my heart shall not fear.” Safety, David found was not to be in the distance he put between himself and crazy King Saul. Safety, was to be found in the closeness he had to the Lord.
Our life can change in “seven seconds” and our safety will not be found in all of the high tech gadgets we may have. The only real security we have for this life is to be found in the Lord. David discovered this truth through years of running, hiding and trauma. David says in Psalm 27:14, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!”
May we too be confident in the Lord, and wait on Him. Let us draw close to the Lord and in that closeness we will find that the Lord has drawn close to us as well (James 4:8). The Lord is our safety, our security, and our safe haven – so let us run to Him.
(Our circumstances in life can change very rapidly.)