POST 21: Belonging to a Safe Space
POST 21
Belonging to a Safe Space
Your belonging is your safe place. . . . You just feel secure when you belong somewhere.
Michael
Are there some places where you feel safer than others? Are there some people who make you feel safe?
Safety—especially feeling safe to be who you truly are—is an important aspect of belonging. In some ways, safety is core to the very meaning of belonging. It’s a prerequisite.
Arthur, a senior living on the West Coast, can tell the difference in his behavior when he feels safe with those nearby: “I have two personalities. One is really loud—that’s who I am during the week. One is really quiet. That is my actual personality. That’s who I am at church. The only place I can really recover and trust myself is at church.” Arthur talked about safety as a word that “kind of encompasses everything, because it is the one place I can return to and still be loved regardless of whatever I do, whatever I say.”
The fact that Arthur has a safe place to belong helps him express himself freely.
Sebastian, an eleventh grader, experienced abuse at home. He painfully recalled how it made him feel: “Being abused by my dad made me want to question my belonging everywhere I went. I had to make sure this was a place I belonged and that these were people who actually accepted me for who I am, because he didn’t accept me at all. Even now, if I’m going to be in a new environment, I have to first make sure they accept me.”
Unfortunately, Sebastian’s experience has caused him to be more guarded and unsure of his belonging. He needs to establish safety in order to be himself.
Hailey summed up belonging this way: “It’s like not having to be fake around certain people, because if you’re being fake that’s not where you belong, you know?”
We Find Safety in God
Each of these teenagers has had different experiences with belonging and safety. What’s been your experience? Perhaps you have a loving and accepting home environment. Perhaps you’ve found a safe place at your local church. Perhaps you’re still searching for safety and unsure whom to trust.
Psalm 91 offers words of comfort for those of us who are searching for a safe place to belong. In this psalm, we are reminded that God is our refuge and shelter. God covers us, rescues us, and delivers us. While we can’t be certain what will happen in our lives, we can have certainty and assurance that God is with us; God is the safe space we have been searching for.
READING GOD’S WORD
Living in the Most High’s shelter,
camping in the Almighty’s shade,
I say to the LORD, “You are my refuge, my stronghold!
You are my God—the one I trust!”
God will save you from the hunter’s trap
and from deadly sickness.
God will protect you with his pinions;
you’ll find refuge under his wings.
His faithfulness is a protective shield.
Don’t be afraid of terrors at night,
arrows that fly in daylight,
or sickness that prowls in the dark,
destruction that ravages at noontime. . . .
God says, “Because you are devoted to me,
I’ll rescue you.
I’ll protect you because you know my name.
Whenever you cry out to me, I’ll answer.
I’ll be with you in troubling times.
I’ll save you and glorify you.
I’ll fill you full with old age.
I’ll show you my salvation.” (Psalm 91:1–6, 14–16)
REFLECT AND RESPOND
Journaling Questions
What has been your experience with safety and belonging?
Where do you consider to be your safe space?
Have you considered that God is a safe space for you? How does it feel to reflect upon God as a safe space for you?
Pray This Prayer
God, you are my refuge and my fortress. You are my God in whom I can trust. I will make my home in you and be reminded that in you I am safe to be me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
SOMETHING TO TRY
In Psalm 91:14–16, what does God promise to the psalmist and to us? Write it down on a note card and keep it in your Bible as a reminder of how God is a safe space for you.
THE TAKEAWAY
We belong when we feel safe. In God, we are always safe.