A Safe Place

I can remember many times as a child waking up on a weekend morning with no place I had to be. Granted, there were cartoons or shows to watch, friends to play with, or maybe even a family gathering where I’d get to play with all my cousins, but there was no urgent reason to get out of bed. So, instead of throwing back the covers and putting my bare feet on the carpeted floor, I would tighten my grip around my comforter and snuggle deeper into my bed with my head half covered by my blanket. I would close my eyes, take a deep breath, and just listen to the silence. I always felt safe there…content. And there was nothing in my day more important than this feeling in those moments.

I don’t have many of these moments as an adult. Most mornings there is a plan for the day that I am working out in my head before I even rub the sleep from my eyes. Recently, however, I was reminded of those times as a younger girl as I thought of relationships…the romantic kind.

It is not uncommon for me to be asked a very specific question at least 2 or 3 times a day at work. ‘Are you married?’ My response is always the same. ‘No, but I am otherwise attached.’ To be quite honest, I am not ‘attached’ in the world’s sense of the term. I don’t have a boyfriend or a fiance or any other attachment to a man. I am as single as they come.

My attachment and commitment is one of a heavenly sort: Jesus.

There was a period of time that I longed for a companion. I longed for affection and love and intimacy from a person with whom I might spend the rest of my life, but something occurred to me very recently. I am safe and content in my relationship with my Creator, Jesus. When I compare my intimacy with Him to what could be in a companion for myself, no one and nothing ever measures up. And, dare I say, no one and nothing ever will.

This is what made me think of those mornings as a young girl. In my mind, the safety of this place with Jesus compared to that of those weekend days that required no urgency to get out of bed are much the same. I felt safe and content wrapped in the comfort of my pillow and blankets. In Jesus, I feel protection, love, warmth, contentment, and such peace. Just as there was no urgency to put my bare feet on the carpet then, I feel no urgency or desire today to tear myself away from this deep place of intimacy with the Lord. I’m happy here. I’m at peace here. And there hasn’t been anyone that has been able to pull me away.

Someday I hope to meet someone who also dwells in that safe place with Jesus. I hope to meet someone who doesn’t desire to pull me away from mine but invites me to join him in his with our Savior. Until then, though, I am staying wrapped up in this affection and protection that cannot be matched. Until then, I’m staying right here.

“For I know the plans I have for you”, says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 NLT