"Have a Safe Holiday"
I saw it as I was driving home just now. I understand what we mean when we say it, but is a "safe" holiday what any of us really wants? ...or a "safe" anything? We were made to be passionate, wild, expressive... We want to be excited, stimulated, exhilarated...! None of that is safe.
You know... God is not "safe".
I mean, of course we are safe with God -- as in "protected", "secure", "not in danger"; but "safe" -- as in "coloring within the lines" -- God is certainly not! God is passionate...!...wild...!...expressive...! He breaks out of every box religion tries to put him in; he defies every explanation the skeptic tries to present; and, just when you think you have him figured out, he does something that completely blows your mind! Jesus, who was God wrapped in human flesh, was the ultimate rebel. He surprised EVERYONE. No one could figure him out. What they thought he would do, he didn't, and what they thought he wouldn't do, he did. His ultimate act of love and sacrifice showed the level to which he would not "play it safe".
Religion is man's effort to understand God. Religion tends to "clean things up". Religion tends to try to get everyone to play it safe. "Okay, here is what I think is the important stuff in the Bible... If everyone would follow God the way I think they should, we wouldn't have all the problems we have... If everyone would just listen to me...." The thing is, we were all made in God's image -- with that wild, passionate, expressive nature. No one can box in humanity -- as much as many have tried -- just as no one can box in God.
There is, however, a difference between safe and reckless. God is not reckless. Too many times I've seen parents try to keep the "wild side" -- the desire to explore, discover, question -- of their children so controlled that in the end, those kids become completely reckless in their behaviors and with their choices and decisions. Whereas, if we give our children safe (as in "secure", "protected", "not in danger") boundaries in which to be wild (expressive, passionate, unique), might they be more likely to discover their true identities and passions? If we parents are too controlling, our kids will find unhealthy ways to express their wildness. Junior High is when this can become a serious problem: smoking, cursing, doing drugs, drinking alcohol, experimenting sexually -- all unhealthy expressions of wildness. Those things stunt our growth and too many times, stop us from discovering who we were really meant to be. How many drug addicts and alcoholics started participating in those addictive behaviors at junior high age and got stuck there, never fully able to discover who they were meant to be? And, one reason we engage in those behaviors is because we are wild, we are rebels, we don't want to be boxed in. But, just like all of Satan's cheap substitutes, those things end up robbing us of the true wildness God created us for!
Recklessness is destructive, but wildness is actually constructive! Trying to figure that out and find that balance has definitely been a lifelong struggle for me, but I've really come to understand that, just as we can't tame God, we shouldn't try to tame our wild hearts. Instead, remember the boundaries we do need in order to prevent recklessness and cultivate wildness are found in the principles of God's Word, the Bible -- the wildest book you could ever base your life on -- the guide to not playing it safe!
So, yeah, I want to have a safe holiday. Just not a safe one. :-)
c2010 Lorenda Houston
