The Politically Incorrect Jesus Smakprov

Security in an Insecure World

I had the privilege to interview Corrie ten Boom quite a number of years ago. To those unfamiliar with her, the amazing story of how she and her family hid Jews from the Nazis, were betrayed, and sent to concentration camps was told in the inspirational book and movie The Hiding Place.

During our interview, she related several stories from those days of horror in the concentration camps and how her faith sustained her. One thing she said has stuck with me for over forty years now. It was simply this: “Don’t hold onto anything so tightly that Jesus can’t take it from you.”

Terrorism, failing financial institutions, failing relationships, and dysfunctional governance on national levels all contribute to the growing sense of insecurity in our world.

Still, everyone is looking for security, but it’s elusive to most. When that happens, people will look anywhere, and do anything, to attain it.

Paradoxically, Jesus suggested that we best realize security when we stop our pursuit of being in control and trust him. That’s what Corrie ten Boom understood all too well.

Jesus tells us that security is best understood as a trust relationship and not a theological concept. Understanding theology only brings us to the point of belief. Knowing Jesus takes us over that line of belief to the crux of the issue, which is not whether we can lose security, but whether God can lose control of his universe. Corrie ten Boom learned the distinction between the two in the crucible of a concentration camp. And she learned to rest in that trust.

Jesus continually points to himself as the one who can bring peace to the heart that yearns to be secure (John 14:27).

So, if you’re looking for security, seek out the words of Jesus and not the lure of culture. Don’t, as Corrie suggested, hold onto anything so tightly that Jesus can’t take it from you. It’s only when we’re able to freely give to Jesus that we can also freely receive from Him in return.

Question: Is there anything you’re holding onto too tightly that Jesus can’t take it from you? Is your security defined by what you possess, or who possesses you?