This is part two of The Unveiled Life series. Click here for part one.
What is the stronghold of your life – your protection from the barrage of attacks?
What about your refuge – the place you seek shelter from overwhelming circumstances?
These spaces tend to reveal something about ourselves: our place of security, yes, but also what we value and fear—and, if we’re honest, what we idolize.
Maybe the stronghold of your life is your marriage, your children, or even dear friendships. In these relationships, we can find a version of protection as we are affirmed and needed by others. They are places where we can fill roles that are comfortable and give us the self-assurance of purpose. But we can get lost in these spaces, ignoring the individuality in which we were created and instead embracing the “safety” of being known for what we can provide rather than who we are.
Maybe your refuge is an imaginary universe found in books, songs, or television shows. It’s a place where you can get lost and leave your cares at the first page or opening credits. You may never really want to come back to the cares of reality, instead longing for what could be or who you feel you should be, all the while living in a state of detachment.
These examples are just some of the many ways we can allow good gifts from God or the schemes of the enemy to envelop us into a false sense of security. They feel like safe altars to worship at, as we give up our cares and emotions in exchange for the temporary comfort that distances us from reality and our authentic being. We repress and ignore and call it safety instead.
Making these our strongholds or places of refuge does not give us the true security that we are craving and so desperately need. Instead, they leave us vulnerable to the enemy’s ambitions: to tear us down and weaken our faith in the character of God.
Surely the God of the universe can use relationships or the creative expression found in entertainment to speak to us. The difference is that instead of providing that numbing we have grown so accustomed to, He brings sensitivity to truth and an awareness of the places in us that need His healing touch. He is the place where our authentic being can be exposed and find true restoration and sanctuary. He is the Light that shines in our darkness and makes known to us the way of salvation.
“For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.” Psalm 18:28
So, if we have this true source of comfort, what drives us to places of false living and insecurity?
We have allowed ourselves to grow comfortable with inauthentic living, dubbing it easy and uncomplicated. We rely on the tangible for the instant gratification it offers, without ever having to dig underneath the surface where our true hearts lie. The alternative requires vulnerability and a trust in what we cannot see. So we settle for the creation instead of the Creator.
But we don’t have to. There is a better way—we just have to have the courage to choose it.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1