In Security
From the time we are born we learn to seek security
in our relationships — parents and children, family and friends,
husbands and wives. Beyond these fundamental human relationships
that are the building blocks of our lives, we become dependent
upon such things as our education or career, home or lifestyle,
financial independence or insurance policies, our philosophies
or politics. We are trained to take our identity in the careers
or lifestyles we choose. Consciously or unintentionally, we tend
to draw our security from the patterns we see around us. It is
only natural. Everybody does it. Human nature relies on such assurances
as basic and essential for survival. Seeking security in these
things is second nature no matter what you like, what your background
is or what your opportunities in life might be.
We seek the security of this world because we
are all looking for these things to give us confidence and certainty
that our life can have a consequential effect to make us happy.
We look for safety, a little shelter from the storms that we face
every day. We seek freedom from worry and protection from harmful,
hurtful relationships.
All of us in the Community have come to see that in reality there
is no security, no genuine protection and safety, in any
of these things that promise it. Instead we have found true
comfort and real security in the life of restoration that
we experience in our Communities
and that we speak of in this paper.
Many of us spent a lot of years searching for
a meaningful life and for healthy relationships in the city, the
suburbs or on twenty acres in the country. We looked for fulfillment
and satisfaction, only to discover that these illusions of promise
locked us into a life of compromise and merely coping. Often our
possessions soothed and satisfied our senses and make life bearable,
while careers and intellectual pursuits fed our insatiable minds.
But God has instructed us differently. He teaches us not to worry
or be anxious about what we will eat or wear. He promises us
that if we seek Him first
and desire His goodness above all else, that He will see to it
that we get what we need.
What is it that keeps us from seeking our security
in God? What keeps us from living the life that Yahshua
called people to live? Many people are left unsatisfied with the
things and pursuits of this world and in that dissatisfaction
are looking for answers in some form of religion or spirituality.
But is what they find able to satisfy any better? Many are burned
out from their experiences with Christianity or other religions.
Maybe we just don’t know yet what to look for or where to
find it.
People have looked everywhere and tried everything
to find the security that the thirsting human heart longs for.
Many have given up trying to find that assurance, that freedom
from anxiety and worry, that brings rest and peace, not in the
mind but in the spirit. Others still search but no longer know
where to look. Perhaps they no longer have the ability to trust
because they have been left wanting so many times. But the truth
is that to know God is to trust Him totally. Without that child-like
absolute trust, coming to know God is an elusive and futile pursuit.
When our Master Yahshua lived
on earth, He understood this plight perfectly because He
knew the nature of man, and He understood how people seek
security in the world. He came to establish a new society
where all our damaged relationships could be restored. He
called this new society a kingdom, a new nation, a family
made up of Yahshua’s followers, His students and emissaries.
Entrance into this new society was not meant to be a cop-out
from the deep problems and complexities of life. It was
something well thought out. It was the solution to the imponderables,
a life to be immersed in, a purpose to embark upon that
would be a light to all the nations of the earth, a seed
that would grow and fill the whole earth.
Yahshua knew that all of us would experience tremendous
fear and be shocked to the core of our being when we discovered
that to have this new life we had to utterly abandon and literally
give up all the security that we acquired in our lifetime, leave
it all behind, and begin to put all our trust in Him. Instead,
we would get our security from heaven. We would get our values
from His words and instructions to us. We would have to begin
to trust Him to meet all our needs and use whatever wealth we
had to build this new nation. What an inspirational calling! What
an awesome cost!
Today, as during His lifetime, He is not looking
for individuals who are willing to forsake everything,
but for those who will actually do it — give it all
up for Him — just like He did for us! That is the cost —
everything. There is no shortcut. His encouragement to all men
is,
"Do not be afraid, little flock [to forsake everything,
all your possessions], for it is your Father’s good pleasure
to give you the kingdom [this new nation of those who have given
all]. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make purses
for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in
heaven, where no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there
your heart will be also."
Our hearts must be His. Everything else follows.
Where is your treasure? Where does all your time and energy go?
What fills the recesses of your soul? What do you long for?
If you are one whose heart longs to know the living
and true God or who wants to know how to follow the gospel that
Yahshua preaches in this day and
age, you must not be afraid to obey His word. We have come to
discover the truth of God’s kind intentions towards us. The
reason not to fear is because it is His good pleasure to give
us His kingdom. He wants everything good for us, but if we continue
to seek out security by what seems right according to our own
judgment, instead of being obedient to Him, we will not know His
security. It is impossible because our Master said, "No one
can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love
the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and riches."
We were once afraid and skeptical too, mistrusting and deceived
by our own understanding and the deception of the world’s
purveyors. But we have come to know the reality that He
is the hope that does not disappoint. It costs everything
and what you receive is not the kind of merchandise that
ever goes on sale. It is a precious jewel that is priceless
and enduring.
Yahshua did not want any of us who have been disappointed
so many times in the past to be afraid to lose everything —
even those who tried to give it all in the past. He wants us not
to be afraid to trust Him. His promise was to give us a new society
in which all we have can be used to build it up, to establish
a corporate life, a restored life, a model or demonstration of
the life that we were all created for. This life is founded in
love, because Yahshua, our Master,
is love perfected. This love is going to fill the entire earth
in the age to come. It is the very life that will be a light to
every nation in this day where men see only darkness. This light
is the evidence of a life and a purpose that proves how worthy
Yahshua is. It is a life worth giving up all to possess. Yahshua
made this very clear when He said, "He who loves father or
mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son
or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me, and he who does
not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me."
This is the challenge. Are you willing and able
to trust? Is there anything left in your heart to trust? Does
any vestige of hope remain in your heart, or has disappointment,
skepticism and mistrust robbed your soul of its desire to find
something worthy of your trust? Yahshua proved that He alone is
worthy. His promise is sure. You are worthy of this precious pearl
only if your heart is willing to pay the price.
This challenge, this reality, confronted each
and every one of us at a different time and place, with circumstances
unique to each of us. One at a time we surrendered. Because we
did, by giving up all the things we took security in, we met the
terms of peace with our Sovereign God. We took the risk and came
out of the fortified bunkers of our lives in a collapsing social
order. We left it all behind. Now our hope is sure. We are on
the path. The light is growing brighter.
Trusting Yahshua and exerting our wills to follow
and obey His word is something that all of us in the Community,
all of us who have written you in this paper, have in common.
It is something to be cherished if you have it and if you don’t,
we can help you find it. As I reflect upon my own life and the
lives of my brothers and sisters around me, I marvel with thanksgiving
that some seed of trust was preserved in each of our hearts so
that we were able to follow Him. It is salvation. It works. You
can know it too, if it is your heart to be His.
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