GOD PROMISES SECURITY
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. Matthew 12:20
Though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. Psalms 37:24
How awful it must be for a child to not feel secure in the love and acceptance of a family. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live in fear of no longer being a part of that family and always having to wonder if I would be rejected for something I did (or didn’t do). Yet that is how many of God’s children live their lives. Satan and his forces feed them lies that they aren’t good enough for God, they have lost their salvation, God won’t forgive them this time or it’s too late for them to repent. Nothing could be further from the truth. The verses above assure Christians that God will never turn from us or turn us away from Him. This is illustrated in three ways in these verses.
- A bruised reed He will not break. Reeds grow in still water and are hollow, so it is easy to cut a few flute-like holes in one and make music by blowing through it. They were very delicate and easily break. When that happened, they would be discarded as useless and another made in its place. God promises He will not do that to us, no mater our sin or failure. Even when we aren’t making music for Him, when our lives have turned in rebellion, He still hold onto us. This is great assurance that no matter what happens He won’t reject us.
- A smoldering wick He will not snuff out. To produce light, oil was poured in a shallow bowl and twisted threads were partly submerged in the oil. The other end of the material was lit and, as oil was drawn into the wick, it burned producing a feeble light. It wasn’t much but was better than darkness. Sometimes the wick wouldn’t burn efficiently and there would be no flame, just smoke. When this happened, they would simply throw away the faulty wick and use another. Wicks, like reeds, were inexpensive and plentiful. Again, God says He won’t throw away a wick that is smoking and not producing light. It’s bad enough when our lives don’t reflect the light of Jesus, but even when we stink and pollute the space around us, He still keeps us and won’t remove us. Like the prodigal son, even when we are in rebellion and sin, we are still His son (Luke 15:11-32).
- We may stumble but not fall, for the Lord upholds us. The picture here is of two people walking when one trips and starts to fall but the other grabs hold of them and keeps them from going down. That’s what God does for us when we stumble. We may suffer earthly consequences of our sin, but God doesn’t let us fall from His love or grace. He just won’t let us go (Romans 8:31-39). Often, we have a hard time forgiving ourselves when we trip over a sin, but God never does. He knows how weak and sin-prone we are (Psalm 103:14).
Jesus says we are safe in His hand, and around His hand is wrapped God’s hand, making us doubly safe and secure (John 10:28-29). John told Nicodemus we must be born again (John 3:3) and, to carry out the analogy, once a person is born, they can’t be unborn. There is no judgment for us (Romans 8;1) so how can we ever be rejected? Noah, Rahab and Lot are good examples of believers being safe from judgment even when everyone else around them falls. Nothing can come between us and God, not Satan and not even ourselves (Romans 8:31-39).
We can still sin after salvation (1 John 1:8-10) but we don’t lose our salvation. Lot is an example of this (2 Peter 2:7), as is David (Romans 4:6-8) and Peter (John 21:17). Satan can’t take our salvation, but he can take our joy if we let him. We can ruin our testimony by sin, but not lose our salvation. Satan can try to put fear of rejection in us, get our eyes on ourself instead of Jesus, tell us God is harsh and unloving or that our sin will turn Him from us, but those are all lies. Even when we are broken, smoking and stumbling, He is with us and never leaves us. Never.
There are many good verses about our security of salvation in this article. If you struggle with this lie, write out several of them and start memorizing them. It’s the only way to speak truth to your mind and give you peace.
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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