OnFire 172 The Key to the Future

Hi Folks:

It has been a while since I last wrote. Having Christmas on a Thursday, with all the prep work for services in between, threw a giant money wrench into any plans I had for writing.

Christmas was good, however. Jan’s parents joined us for Christmas and it was good to have them with us. After Christmas we went to PEI for a few days. And then last weekend Jan went to her parents for a few nights and I got to see some old friends when I went to pick them up. It has been a long time since we were close enough to see this much of our families and it was really nice.

We’re already into a new year, and I’m thinking a little about what the year has ahead for me and my family. Along those lines, a stolen set of keys inspired a few thoughts.

Blessings

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A friend of mine had some keys stolen recently. It would have been one thing to lose them. I’ve done that before. In fact, one time we lost Jan’s car keys for about a year. Once in a while I teased her about this until one day I put on a jacket I hadn’t worn for a while. Reaching into the pockets, I felt the keys and knew I would never live down losing her keys.

When keys are lost there is a reduced chance for a thief to find the location of the locks to which the keys fit. But when keys are stolen, it means the thief probably knows whose keys they are, and also where the locks are. There was a relatively sleepless night until the locks could be replaced.

Keys are interesting in what they represent. They represent authority. As a student I was a resident assistant in charge of a wing of the dorm. Keys meant I was in charge. Keys represent opportunities. We all hope for something which will “unlock the door to the future.”

Keys also represent safety and security. Every night I lock the doors, which means only those with keys may enter. We lock ourselves in and lock intruders out. That’s not to say there aren’t other security risks. There are also, of course, windows and possibly other problems. But locking the doors makes us feel better, at least.

Related to safety and security are also our fears about the future. We want to guard our property from theft. It is expensive and inconvenient to replace stolen goods. And it upsets our sense of justice since we worked for those things and someone came along to take them without working for them honestly. The future always looks better when the things around us are in place, and when we feel warm, dry and safe.

It is good to keep our person and property safe. We need to lock our doors. But in what, really, do we trust for our ultimate sense of security for the future? It seems to me that, as a culture, we are safer than we have ever been, and yet more and more people are anxious and fearful. How is this? We drive safer vehicles, live in houses which are warmer and more secure than our ancestors, and we have generally have more things. We have security and alarm systems. And more people than ever have worries and anxieties.

I’m not suggesting that all these things like cars and alarm systems are bad, just that they need to be seen in proper perspective.    “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:19-21

There is a saying: “Trust in God but lock your doors.” It is a proverb meaning we should not be naive about our security. It is good as far as it goes. But I wonder, however, if sometimes we put more trust in the locks than we do in God.

We stand at the beginning of a new year. I’ve been thinking again about what direction God wants me to move in this year. I’ve been praying for a theme, even. And it seems God has given it to me. The “key” to our security (I’m no longer talking about the doors on the house) is not in our things, or our sense of personal safety, or anything else in which we place a lot of hope for the future. Rather, it has to be in God himself. 

It seems we need to turn the saying around. “Lock your doors, but trust in God.”  The “key” to the future seems to be to trust God more.

I hope this helps. Be on fire,

Troy

OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. This letter published Jan 8, 2009.  Bible reference taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com