Flight-to-Safety – by Hal Lindsey
The novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 scares people the world over. But it is not the only thing people are afraid of. Watching the financial markets fall last week scared nearly everyone. North Korea now seems to be returning to its old missile-launching, bomb-threatening ways. An estimated one million new refugees are fleeing war-ravaged Syria. And, with shelters already full, there seems to be no place for them.
The world economy feels fragile. Even before COVID-19, several EU countries were suffering, including Germany and France. Now it’s getting worse.
In the US, financial markets are trying to recover from a week of record bad news. Volatile markets tend to send investors on a “flight-to-safety.” That’s a market phenomenon Investopedia defines as “investors moving their capital away from riskier investments to safer ones.”
Even people who avoid the financial markets are looking for safety – some trying to build a safe haven in their own homes. Costco stocks recently surged on word that Americans are hitting that store in record numbers. News reports talk of checkout lines thirty shopping carts deep at various Costco locations. Many Americans feel a need to stock up on food staples, dry goods, and cleaning supplies (especially bleach).
Others don’t want to go anywhere near a Costco or any other store. They fear that mingling with large groups increases the risk of infection. But even if you have your food delivered, you cannot know for sure that your food delivery does not also contain some form of contamination. It makes you wonder if a safe haven exists anywhere.
Near the end of the most famous sermon ever preached, Jesus talked about safety. His did not offer the superficial safety of human institutions, but a true safe haven – His word.
In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.”
Some university campuses provide students what are called “safe spaces.” But it’s a promise the present world system cannot make good on. With high numbers of home invasion robberies, even homes are not entirely safe. Also, modern homes have several conduits through which toxic ideas flow into them – primarily the internet, television, radio, books, magazines, games, and sometimes even homework.
Jesus said that His word is a safe place. To build a life of godly success in an uncertain world, hear and act on the words of Jesus.
Psalm 91:1-7 says it magnificently. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.’ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.”
A true flight to safety means going somewhere truly safe. Whether as a nation, a community, a church, a family, or an individual – run to God!
Hal Lindsey
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