Seen and Known, Safe and Secure

Don’t you sometimes wish you could be a child again? Life was much easier when someone else was watching over you, keeping you safe. You were seen and secure.

When I was eight years old, my grandparents built a house next door to ours. While the house was under construction, my siblings and I would climb up on my parents’ bed and look out the window to watch the house taking shape. We watched as construction workers pounded pilings into the ground, poured the concrete slab, and erected the frame.

Once the outer walls were completed, I got a bright idea. Wouldn’t it be fun to spend the night in the new, unfinished house? It would be like camping, sort of. Cabin camping. Roughing it, but still protected from the elements.

“You don’t want to sleep there,” my mother said. “The electricity’s not hooked up. It’ll be dark.”

“I’ll bring a flashlight.”

Now, those who know me well know I’m not a camper. In fact, someone once tagged me in a post that read, “If camping means my hotel room faces the woods, then, yeah, I’ll go camping.” But I was young and foolish and had no idea what I was getting into. To my great surprise, my mother said I could go.

 

So one night after my bath, I collected my pillow, blanket, and flashlight and marched next door in my pajamas.

The house was dark inside. A musty smell of fresh-cut wood greeted me. I looked around for a spot to lay my blanket, but nails and construction debris covered the concrete floor. Roaches and lizards were surely crawling around.

My plan for adventure didn’t seem like such a great idea after all.

“Are you ready to come home?”

My mother was right behind me. She knew I wouldn’t last long in that unfinished house and was waiting to guide me back to the comfort of my own bed.

God Knows and Understands Us

Recently, when I was reading Psalm 139, I remembered that ill-fated attempt at adventure. Just as my mother knew I’d change my mind about camping, God knows us better than we know ourselves.

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. (Ps.139:1-4 ESV)

We want to be known and understood, even when we’re confused about what we’re thinking. Some psychologists think feeling understood may be more important than feeling loved.

God Sees Us and Keeps Us Safe

We want to be seen. We also have a basic need for safety and security. On Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it comes right after physiological needs like food and water. God keeps us safe and secure.

 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me. (Ps. 139:7-10 ESV)

As an adult, I want the freedom to try new things and expand my horizons. Some endeavors don’t feel safe, but it’s reassuring to know that whatever I attempt, wherever I go, God is right there with me. If I “ascend to heaven,” he’s there to cheer me on. If I come up with some crazy idea, like making my bed in that shell of a house with all those varmints, God is there, too. He doesn’t say, “You made your bed, now lie in it.” He welcomes his prodigal daughter with open arms.

Lately, life feels unpredictable and unsafe. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the rules to the Game of Life have been constantly changing, so we never know what to expect. Psalm 139 reminds us God knows what’s happening; he has everything under control. And nothing we can do will add or subtract a day from the life he ordained.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them. (Ps. 139:16 ESV)

God Shows His Love by Words and Deeds

How do I know God really cares? The same way I know my mother loved me: by words and deeds. I often wonder how God could bother to care about the details of my life when I’m one of eight billion people on earth. Psalm 139 makes it clear that God sees and knows me individually, personally, intimately.

If God’s Word doesn’t provide enough reassurance, I only need to look back on my life and remember all the times God has rescued me. All the disasters he’s prevented. All the times he’s been with me when I’ve wandered off into “dark places” where I didn’t belong.

Like a loving parent, God cares for me.

I feel seen and known. Safe and secure.

Margaret Kemp spends most days teaching a classroom full of lively five-and six-year-olds. She’s attracted to be fragrance of vanilla, the printed word, and all things blue and white. She delights in spending time with her husband and family, singing praises with her church choir peeps, and traveling. Her heart’s desire is to know God better and learn to trust him more. You can read more of her writing at MargaretKemp.com.

Photograph © Alexey Demidov, used with permission