False Sense of Safety

We love driving our Jeep with the top and doors off.

There’s just something about riding in a vehicle and watching the pavement speed by. I used to drive a delivery truck for Ziker Cleaners when I was in college for extra money and would drive with the door open so I could hang my foot out. There’s just something fun about it.

The other week we hung out at our friend’s house after a leadership conference. As we were walking out to our Jeep, their then seven year old daughter followed us out, walked through their front yard and proceeded to climb in the backseat. She didn’t say a word. Just climbed in and buckled her seat belt.

“Well, I guess you’re coming with us,” I said, as we proceeded to drive off with her in our backseat much to this little girl’s surprise. “What!? Where are we going?” As we drove away I told her that we needed to pick Carter and Morgan up from their practices and then we would bring her back home. (I don’t think she really thought we’d take off with her in the Jeep… but we did.) ???

As we were driving she was throwing out questions while she was trying to keep her hair from whipping her in the face.

“What happens if we get into an accident?”

“Well, we have a roll bar so you’ll want to keep your hands up by your shoulders… kind of like if you hug yourself.”

“How fast are you going!?”

“100 miles per hour…” Her response… “Whaaaaaaaaaaaat!? 100 miles per hour!” (We really were only driving 45mph.)

Then Jami jumps in… “Todd, she’s only seven.”

Then there was a bit of quiet as she tried to keep the hair out of her face.

Then she asked one final question…

“What happens if they start shooting at us, I don’t feel safe!?”

“What!? Who’s shooting at us? Who are “THEY?” And why are THEY shooting at us? You’re seven? Who’s shooting at a seven year old? What type of work are you in? SHOOTING AT US? WHAT?”

Her response… “There’s no doors!”

What? Doors won’t stop bullets I tell her. Which blew her mind. She thought she was safe in a car from people shooting at her because of the doors. But doors don’t stop bullets. When she thought she was safe, she really wasn’t. Sure, she could duck. Or not get involved with people who would need to shoot at her in the first place. She could make choices that would help make her more safe. But believing that car doors would simply stop bullets isn’t true. It’s a false sense of security and it took a ride in a vehicle with no doors to make her realize that.

I still don’t know why this seven year old would think someone would be shooting at her… is she pushing cocaine? Is she working for the mob? Is she a spy? Needless to say, we picked up Carter and Morgan and returned this girl back to her parents safe and sound… with no shots ringing out.

But this Jeep ride got me thinking a bit… well, the seven year old got me thinking.

How often do we run through life thinking we’re safe? We’re in control? And then BAM…

Covid hits.

We get laid off of work.

Kids start school at home on the computer.

We or someone we know gets seriously sick.

And we realize that we’ve been living in this false reality that we might be in control… in a false sense of security… like car doors would actually stop bullets. When in reality, there’s a lot that we don’t control.

I don’t know why bad things happen… why some people get sick and others don’t… why life is really hard sometimes. Sure, sometimes it’s because of the choices we make and we bring it on ourselves. But there are things that happen that are outside of the control that we thought we had. 2020 has shown us all and given us plenty of examples.

It’s easy to get caught up in life… when things are going well… when things are going as planned… “We’ve got it all under control” we think. And then boom… you get in a car with no top and no doors and you start to wonder “what happens if they start shooting at us” only to find out that even if you have doors, the bullets will still impact the inside of the car.

For a lot of us, 2020 has been kinda like riding in a car with no top or doors. We’ve fully come to realize that, as human beings and parents, that most of what happens to us is out of our control. Sure, we can make good decisions and place ourselves in better positions… but in the end, those are just doors. Ultimately, we don’t and can’t live in total, complete safety.

So the question is…

Where does your hope come from? What do you place your hope in?

Our hope comes from God. May  He fill you with joy and peace because of your trust in Him. May your hope grow stronger by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

When we put our hope in our leaders, or our relationships or our health, we will for sure be let down. People will let us down. Our health can fail us. Money can run out. Safety in our eyes won’t stop bullets from penetrating our cars. But there is one who won’t let us down. There is one whom we can trust. Jesus is his name… it’s in him where our hope should be… the giver of life. I pray this for my life… and I pray it for your life.

Will this make our problems go away? Hardly so. But it will change our outlook on life’s circumstances. This isn’t a rose-colored glasses kind of outlook. It’s an outlook of hope IN SPITE OF the circumstances that we face. It’s the kind of hope that changes what you post on social media. It’s the kind of hope that changes your words. It’s the kind of hope that fills you with hope and peace. And it’s this hope that I’m praying that will impact my life and yours.

There’s one more question I want to ask my already believing friends… where does your hope come from regarding those you disagree with? It’s a question I had to face. Those that I really, truly disagree with regarding everything that’s going on in our world and culture today. It’s a question that will be answered by simply looking at how we interact with the very people I was just talking about.

When we look at the life of Jesus, we can see what hope really looks like regarding those that we disagree with. The very man that would betray him, Judas, had a seat at the dinner table of Jesus the night before his betrayal. The man who would deny Jesus three times had a seat at the dinner table of Jesus.

Do the people whom you disagree with, maybe even dislike, have a seat at your dinner table? Are they welcome?