How secure is your security blanket?

Yesterday we learned about Lucy. Don’t you love Linus? Let’s learn from him today.
We are a blanket family. I’m literally mesmerized by stores where walls breathe thick towels, floors are spongy with throw rugs, and blankets spill off shelves. Blankets, though, entice me most and even though my family laughs at me, they are all blanket people too. I have a ‘grandpa’s rag tag quilt’ every piece of it stitched together by a cherished friend, Sandy Joyce – homemade contentment.  Walk into my house, it doesn’t have to be winter; it doesn’t even have to be a cold spring, or cool fall. In any season we cocoon in plush, wraparound blankets – the ultimate comfort zone.  I think blankets are like comfort food for the soul.
I wonder if that’s why I love Linus. You know, the philosophical character in the Peanuts gang whose blue blanket seems to be part of his anatomy. Linus is rarely without that assurance of security clasped in his arms. He is faithfully devoted to it.  Snoopy’s frequent quest is to persuade Linus to give up his blanket, and sometimes he stretches the limit just to the line of possession, then Linus realizes his adoration and dependence on his blanket and pulls back before Snoopy can claim victory.
I can relate to Linus; not just because he is captivated by his blanket, but because of his passionate belief in his need for it.  It’s not the same, but Linus and his unshakable faith in his security blanket paints a picture of the unshakable faith I should have in the God who patiently reminds me in Jeremiah 32:17 “Oh, Sovereign Lord, you did indeed make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. Nothing is too hard for you!” The issues I face, the questions I have, God has already decided the outcome. He asks us to pray, to ask in His name, not because He needs our help, but because we need that connection with the Sovereign Lord; we need that blanket of faith surrounding us; to be immersed in it like the lifeline that it is.
The conflicts of this life and the complexities of relationships are exhausting. I find myself starting a project but derailing to reach for my phone with every version of the Bible in searchable text, craving help from the King. I spend a lot of time in the Old Testament where the culture is nothing like ours, but the people were human and fractured just like us. One verse speaks of that in Deuteronomy 17:8 “If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults—take them to the place the Lord your God will choose.” At this time judges were the decision makers, but they followed the direction of the Lord God. I keep reminding myself that God requires so little of me. I love the way He instructs through Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord really wants from you: He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful, and to live obediently before your God.” That’s all He wants from me – to be faithful and obedient before God.
When I feel perplexed and uncertain, when I’m exhausted from the struggle, when I’ve reached the end of myself, I can be like Linus and grasp onto the Lord, my security blanket, because he isn’t just powerful, he is power. And God is not of questionable character, nor does he ever make mistakes.  Right now, I’m praying for protection from the enemy of my soul who wants nothing more than to see me descend into the pit.  As I was studying and reading, and foraging for reassurance, I turned to Ephesians 1:20-22 in the Message. “All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything.”
At age 5 I learned “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.” Psalm 56:3  The same God who David wrote about is the same God of today. Malachi 3:6 says “I the Lord do not change.” God is who He says He is, never changing, always watching, forever acting, and His power is not diluted regardless of the number of projects He’s working on.
This next verse has nothing to do with security blankets, but it gave my spirits a lift and became my favorite Proverb for today Proverbs 20:28 “Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure.”

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