False security

Security.  It’s something that many people seek.  To feel safe.  To feel that their future is in hand.

For many people, they seek security in money, and think that if they just have enough, they’ll be okay. 

In the 1980s, the Japanese economy was booming.  And with the strong economy, a lot of people were prospering financially. 

But then the bubble burst in 1990, and for a lot of people, so did their sense of security.  It’s one of the reasons the suicide rate is so high here.

In Israel, the people were much the same as the Japanese in the ’80s.  They were feeling prosperous and secure.  But like the Japanese, their security was to be short-lived.

Isaiah told them,

You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say! 

In little more than a year you who feel secure will tremble; the grape harvest will fail, and the harvest of fruit will not come. 

Tremble, you complacent women; shudder, you daughters who feel secure!  (Isaiah 32:9-11)

Where is your security?  Is it in money? 

Money can never buy peace of mind.  For some people, they end up buying trouble.  They work too much trying to earn money at the expense of their marriages, and they end up with broken relationships and broken homes. 

Others work so hard, they can’t even enjoy the wealth they accumulate. 

In Japan, we have a word “karoshi” which basically means “death from overwork.” 

Because of the strain of the long hours at work, people end up destroying their health and dying before their time. 

Others are so consumed with money, that they constantly worry about it at night, wondering how to keep from losing all they’ve accumulated.

True security can only be found in God.  Isaiah told the people that everything they found security in would be stripped from them and that they would lose everything,

till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. (Isaiah 32:15)

When we are filled with the Spirit of God, we bear his fruit.  Things like love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, and self-control.  (Galatians 5:22-23)

And as these things are born in our lives, we also find peace.  Isaiah wrote,

The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.  (Isaiah 32:17)

Do you desire security and peace of mind?  Don’t seek for it in money or the things of this world.  At best, it can only bring a temporary security and peace. 

Put your trust in God.  Let his Spirit fill your life.  And as you do, you will find the peace that passes all understanding, a peace that will guard your hearts and minds through all that you go through in life.