"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the ar no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior," (cf. Hab. 3:17-18, NIV).
We are all on a quest for security and safety, even salvation. In our jobs, marriages, friendships, faith, retirement savings, children's futures, education opportunities, and avocations. But life is more than security and there can be no real sense of security without God in the picture. "Unless the LORD builds the house, they build it in vain!" (cf. Psalm 127:1). Unless our final security is in the LORD, we believe in vain and there can be no rest, respite, or peace in our quest.
We will always have doubts and fears and especially that our worst fears will come true, as happened to Job when he lost all his blessings from God as a test of his patience and faith. God was getting his attention (cf. Job 36:15) and may do the same to us. We are not to just admire his endurance but emulate and put it into practice what we personally espouse and believe. We must come to the conclusion that apart from God there can be no security unless we are in the will of God, which is the safest and securest place to be. If God got us to it, He'll get us through it! We must learn that even when we pass through the waters that He is with us and we will never be overwhelmed by God (cf. Isaiah 43:2).
We are not to become desperate as if God has forsaken us but to learn to claim His promises and abide in Christ as we learn to walk with Christ by faith, not by sight. The real world will have our downtimes and bad times when we may question God's wisdom or guidance in testing our faith; a world where faith is easy is a world without real faith. Faith must be difficult to be worth anything. Our walk is not on Cloud Nine nor are we always on a spiritual high and it certainly isn't Pollyannish. We must learn in the real world of on-the-job training in the trials of life and sometimes learn in the school of hard knocks. Feeling distant from God doesn't mean He is far, for He is not far from any one of us and will never leave nor forsake us. God didn't move--we did! God is only at times withdrawing Himself to see where our hearts are (cf. 2 Chron. 32:31), as He did to King Hezekiah.
We must realize that the devil seeks whom he may devour (cf. 1 Pet. 5:7) and that we must not be ignorant of his schemes (cf. 2 Cor. 2:11) and that we are most vulnerable after victory or a spiritual high. He knows us well enough to appeal to our lower natures (cf. 1 John 2:16) and knows if we are desperate or faithless. This is why we must always have our head in the real world and realize that our faith isn't pie in the sky but Christ offers more abundant life (John 10:10) in the here and now. We can indeed live the good life right now, for eternal life begins at salvation (cf. John 5:24)!
But we can't do this in our own power or strength: "Not by power, nor by strength, but by My Spirit, says the LORD..." (cf. Zech. 4:6). We must acknowledge and find out that when we are saved, we don't have permission to live in the flesh, but the power ot live in the Spirit! We've never had a problem knowing what is the right thing to do because of our God-given conscience and moral compass but we have always lacked the power to do it! Even Paul struggled here (cf. Romans 7:18): "... for I have the desire to do what is right, but I can not carry it out," (cf. Romans 7: Ovid said, "Why is it that I know what is right and do what is wrong?" The only free life is in Christ: "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed."
It can be said that grace is not cheap, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in The Cost of Discipleship. It is free but it costs everything we've got. It costs more to reject it! When we fall for easy-believism or that good works must not be the natural byproduct of our faith and that we are known by our fruits, we misconstrue grace altogether. We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone, according to the Reformers. No fruit means no faith! We are not saved by works, but not without them either--they authenticate and validate our faith for faith without works is dead.
As far as security goes, in summation, if you have God, we have all we need and this is why we are to have no other gods before Him and realize God will supply all your needs (cf. Phil. 4:19) and we are complete in Him (cf. Col. 1:27); having a fear of God means not fearing anyone else or anything else. We do not have a "spirit of timidity" (cf. 2 Tim. 1:7) but realize that perfect love casts out fear (cf. 1 John 4:18) and realize that God is with us even unto the end (cf. Psalm 48:14). Courage is not a lack of fear, but acting despite it, standing up to your fears and facing them knowing God is with you. Soli Deo Gloria!
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