By Clara Dowds
I Am Secure
Hey guys, its lovely to be able to share a word with you all. Tonight I am gonna be speaking on how to be secure, or finding security in Jesus. However, I want to start off by being honest. I am not preaching from a place of always being secure myself. I have often felt insecure about sharing this word on how to be secure. My prayer is that the things I have been learning on this topic will help us grow more secure, together. To clear things up at the start, the book “ I AM” by sons and daughters states that:
“security is the sense that we are safe from threats, whether present or future. It is a confidence that we are protected from risk. These risks might be tangible: the threat of physical harm from others or of lacking food or shelter. Or they might be intangible: the risk of failing at something important, of being embarrassed or ridiculed or rejected, the secret terror that we are not adequate for the task in front of us and will inevitably be outed as imposters.”
“I AM: Find Your Identity. Claim Your Freedom. Embrace the Adventure.”
However, the good news is that there is a solution, a go to when we are feeling fearful like this. As an illustration, I want us to look at the example of David in the bible, specifically the story of David and Goliath. It is in this passage that I have felt God show me truths that can help us face security, in our day-to-day lives. If you want to read the whole story, you can find it in 1 Samuel 17 as I won’t have time to read the whole chapter.
Now, there are default ways that people naturally deal with insecurity. We try avoiding every potential disaster coming our way and try protecting ourselves from all difficult situations. It could be backing out of something in order to avoid embarrassment or failure. It could be working so hard so that you never ever find yourself in a vulnerable place. When we are faced with risks but don’t know how to deal with them, the result can be feeling super anxious. However, trying to control every outcome in life or backing away from all dangers is not possible and not God’s best.
To give you a quick summary of 1 Samuel 17, to refresh your memory, all of God’s people were too afraid to fight this ten ft., philistine giant called Goliath. That is everyone apart from David, a small shepherd boy. He believed God would keep him safe and he ended up winning the fight.
Prior to the fight, when David heard Goliath’s challenge, he went to his King to let him know he was happy to fight the giant. King Saul was quite apprehensive and tried to gear David up in his own special armour. However, it was far too big and heavy for him to move in, let alone win a fight. I believe this is what it’s like when we try and deal with our insecurity by ourselves. Frankly, our attempts to find safety in ourselves and protect ourselves will weigh us down and only make things harder. The beautiful truth is that we are not alone in this life. With God on our side, we don’t have to deal with insecurity by relying on our own efforts. If we want to find true security in our lives, we must look to God as our first and only source.
How Can I Find Security?
The question is why and how can we find security from God. How can we feel safe and confident in every situation by doing life with Jesus? I feel I have found three ways that we can conquer insecurity from David’s example in the bible before, during and after his fight.
The first way David lived securely in God was through trusting in God’s faithfulness. He did this by remembering how God had always been faithful in the past to him and his ancestors. He then chose to believe God would do the same again. You see, David was a shepherd and often had to fight lions and bears to protect his sheep.
He remembered how God had always kept him safe during these moments and that these moments had actually prepared him for what he was about to face. God had equipped him with everything he needed to fight this mighty giant. In the same way, when we are feeling insecure, we can remember how God has always been faithful in our own lives, how he has always kept us safe. We can also draw confidence in God’s faithfulness by remembering the testimonies of others and the testimonies of those in bible times too. And like David, we can trust that he will remain faithful. Trust that God has and will equip you for what lays ahead.
Secondly, David found security in Jesus during his confrontation with Goliath. He didn’t approach Goliath with heavy armour, as King Saul had wanted initially, but with only a sling and some rocks. When Goliath saw that it was David coming to fight him, he started shouting insults and curses towards him. I quote from verse 43:
“The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with [shepherd’s] staffs?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.”
Surely this would of made David insecure, but no. David trusted in God’s promises. He trusted that God was with him, for him and would protect him… even against a giant. David replies to Goliath saying:
“You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the LORD will hand you over to me…”
and then it starts to get gruesome so I will stop there. In the same way, when we face our own giants in this life and our enemy is trying to make you believe you are worthless, powerless and alone, we must cling to God’s promises. I believe we have a spiritual enemy called satan who tries to put these types of thoughts in our heads, but he is a defeated liar. When we feel overwhelmed by our circumstances, I believe there is power when we declare God’s promises over our lives. God is always with us, Matthew 28:20. God is for us; our biggest fan – Romans 8:31. God forgives ALL our sin – 1 John 1:9. God will provide for us – Philippians 4:19. God protects us – 2 Thessalonian’s 3:3. The list goes on. I have loved really delving into each one of these promises and I would really encourage you to do the same as they have really helped me in my insecurities, even this week.
However, sometimes it can be really hard to trust God that He will keep His promises. We may even feel guilty admitting this, and feel that God will be angry and upset that we, somehow don’t trust Him better or as much as the person next to us. However, I was reminded from Sons and Daughter’s book “I AM” that
“God is not nearly as offended by our humanness as we might think.”
“I AM: Find Your Identity. Claim Your Freedom. Embrace the Adventure.”
God loves us sooo much, and because of this, He wants to see us flourish in security and is devoted to supporting us grow in this area. He is so patient and is willing to walk our journey with us through the highs, lows and in-betweens.
And lastly I believe David found security in God by spending time with Him in worship and in God’s presence.
As I was saying, I believe that declaring God’s promises over our lives is powerful. It can physically transform our fears into faith; our worries into peace and our insecurity into confidence. I believe it changes the atmosphere around us in the spiritual realm too. As well as speaking out the promises of God, what really helps me is listening to music and singing songs that declare these truths as well. David wrote many of the Psalms which is a book of prayer and worship to God, in the bible. Worship shifts your focus from what other people think and your own insecurities to a place of peace and confidence. I have personally experienced this over and over again. When I am on the worship team on a Sunday morning, I can easily fall into a trap of seeing all these people coming into church and thinking about them hearing my voice. I can begin feeling insecure about what they are thinking and about how I’m not good enough. Then I remember the reason why I worship. It’s not about how I sound, about what others think of me. It’s about giving the Saviour of the world, my ultimate praise and leading others to see and do the same. It’s not about me. It’s all about Him. It’s about focusing our eyes, not on our circumstances which seem hopeless but on our God who is our true hope. The God who will get us through all trials and difficulties. It’s about looking into the eyes of our loving Father and spending time with Him. That is where we will find true security. In the presence of our Father who says I love you, more than words can say. You are more than enough. I am your strength. I am your biggest fan and cheerleader. I love you. I love you. I love you.
So to summarise, security is the sense that we are safe and protected. There are ways that we naturally deal with insecurities but our own efforts will only weigh us down and make life harder. We learned from David that three ways we can grow in security is by, firstly, reminding yourself of God’s faithfulness to you and others around you. By trusting that God has given you everything you need to accomplish His plans and purposes for your life. Whether that is at school, work, home or wherever God has placed you.
Secondly, we learned to trust God’s promises for our lives. When we hear the lies in our head that we are not good enough, that we are alone or that we’re going to fail, like David we can declare God’s promises and tell the enemy in our minds to flee.
And finally, we can shift the focus of our anxious minds from a place of insecurity by choosing to worship God and sit at His feet because it is in His presence that we find our true identity. Our atmosphere changes from anxiety and insecurity to peace and confidence. Now, this is always easier said than done. I have been studying this over the past month but there are many times I still stumble and feel the weight of insecurity on my shoulders. As I close, I want to remind you that growing in our identity is a journey and God is willing to walk with us all the way. What’s more, we have each other to walk with too. So, together we can declare: I AM SECURE because I don’t have to trust in my own efforts. I AM SECURE because the most powerful, King of Kings, Saviour of the world is for me, loves me and holds my hand. Therefore, I can walk in peace and security.
By Clara Dowds