The Illusion of Our “Safe Choices” - Blog # 64

 Dear God,

I pray that we wouldn’t be fooled by the allure of false safety. We think that certain choices or efforts can promise us a level of comfort. We believe the lie that security has a ticket price. Yet, death and sin ravage our lives from the young to the old, to the rich and the poor, and the unknown to the famous. We can’t secure anything besides eternal life through Christ. Remind us that playing it safe is the most dangerous thing of all.

Love,

Grace

I don’t eat salads because they taste better than Taco Bell. I don’t go to school because it’s more fun than sleeping in and having free time on my weekends. I make these choices because I hope that in some way my life will be better. I’ll be healthier. I’ll be more secure. I’ll be safe and happy.

I think that the god of comfort has been an idol for so long in my life. Anything that threatens my wellbeing is seen as a satanic attack. Whatever gets in the way of my happiness is an offense I have to deal with. But as I grow more in my faith, I realize that I can try (and it’s a good thing to try), but it’s all an illusion.

I have been deluded to think that I can prevent terrible things from happening through pure willpower and effort. Leave an hour early so I’m not late to school. Eat healthy foods so my heart won’t stop beating too early. Save money now so I won’t be broke. But I can’t prevent traffic or car crashes, I can’t be protected from all diseases, even the preventable ones, and I can’t control what happens to my current or future income.

Sometimes I’m obsessive about my safe choices because I’m afraid that one wrong decision can ruin my life. One late day. One slip up. One awkward moment. One mistake -- and it’s over. I feel pressure every time I take a quiz or competency. What if this is it for me? What if it’s my fault my life is screwed up now?

In these moments, I have to remind myself that God is bigger than me. So much so that even the sum of all my choices can’t drag me from the path He has for me. That even the bad things can’t stop God’s plans for me or maybe they were embedded in the story God saw for my life. There is no safe choice in life, only choices we make with or without God, for or against Him.

Outcomes? What happens? My safe choices don’t correlate to certain outcomes. That’s a lie I’ve believed. Matthew 16 reads, “Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Following Jesus is a risk. People lost their lives. People were rejected by their friends and families. Mocked. Ridiculed. Beaten. Killed. Crucified. Following Jesus isn’t easy, His death was free but that didn’t mean it didn’t have a high cost, and we live our lives now counting that cost.

Sharing the gospel. Living out of faith. No longer being defined by our paycheck, career, or other people. None of that came without pain, suffering, or loss. Yet, in Jesus we find what nothing else and no one else can ever dream of giving us. Real, grounded identity as a son or daughter of God. Unconditional love. Meaning and purpose to life. Faith to keep going. Hope to believe in. Forgiveness that we will never deserve. All of that comes from taking the leap.

I pray that no one, especially myself, would think that choosing what looks safer or more comfortable leads to life. It’s not easier to choose that life either. It just comes with empty promises and false hopes. It’s not real to live chasing after success or temporary happiness. There’s nothing to keep you going. There’s no one to hold you like God does.

I see the fruit of my choices. The hard ones. The ones that had me bruised but still breathing. By God’s willingness and grace, I’m still here and I’m better for it. Choosing “safe” left me feeling hollow and empty because my world was about attaining and maintaining worthless things and chasing after what other people could give me. It’s never enough. Choosing God, choosing the risk, that is where real life begins.