Safe in Christ, Not in Myself

Father, how often I have seen the grip of fear tighten around a person’s heart, squeezing out their peace, leaving them anxious and exhausted. Even among believers, I’ve watched as worries about the future consume their thoughts—what will happen to their health, their relationships, their security? I’ve felt it myself in the past, before You taught me that life is not found in managing outcomes but in resting in You.

E. Stanley Jones spoke of a woman bound by fear because she was “in religion” but not in Christ. I see this so often—people clinging to a form of godliness but still living as if they must hold their own lives together. And yet, I know that same trap once ensnared me. I lived as though my well-being depended on my own efforts, my own ability to anticipate and prevent disaster. But that was never life at all—it was just the illusion of control.

When I was in myself, I was at the mercy of the future. Uncertainties gnawed at my soul because everything depended on me. But in You, I stand on eternal ground. The future holds no terror because it is not mine to manage. I belong to You, and time and eternity belong to You. There is no separation—Your love holds me in this moment, and it will hold me in every moment to come.

You have graciously shown me an anchor does not stop the sea from moving, but it holds the ship steady in the midst of the waves. Lord, You are my anchor. The storms may rise, the future may bring changes I cannot see, but I am not drifting. I am secure, not because I understand what is ahead, but because I am held by the One who does.

Thank You that I no longer need to grasp for security in myself. Thank You that I do not need to prop up my own future, nor fear the passing of time. I am in Christ, and in Christ, I have already stepped into eternal life. And You are Eternal Life. So, whatever comes, I will rest in You.

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Devotional Credit: "In Christ" by E. Stanley Jones
Photo Credit: Unsplash