OVERSAFE AND UNDERARMED
I’ll pull pranks on my coworkers and I’ll throw my granddaughters as high into the air as possible and hopefully catch them. Why? Pushing a person beyond their comfort zone of safety and security is a good idea. We need to feel a little scared, insecure or unsafe once in a while, like the Emmaus disciples.
Notes and Next Steps
Luke 24:30-35 + Part 8 of the series "Jesus Gives Us Joy"
Pushing a person beyond their comfort zone of safety and security is good for them.
Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. (Luke 24:31)
“Peek-a-boo!”
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)
The disciples’ steps blazed a path of fire.
“Repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached … to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:47-49)
It’s not just that you will experience times that feel uncomfortable and even unsafe as you follow Jesus, but you must.
A “smothering parenting style” may “soothe our own fears” but that doesn’t mean it will “meet our children’s developmental needs.” (Carrie McKean, Christianity Today, July/August 2024)
SPIRITUAL NEXT STEP
Join my CrossWords blog and read a practical, biblical devotion Monday-Friday. Last week: “Back to School Prayer.” This week: “An Anxious Generation - of Parents: Jesus told us not to worry, but worry is our culture’s parenting default. It’s harming our kids.” Subscribe here https://crosslifepf.org/join-the-crosswords-mailing-list/.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Join my CrossWords blog and read a practical, biblical devotion Monday-Friday. Last week: “Back to School Prayer.” This week: “An Anxious Generation - of Parents: Jesus told us not to worry, but worry is our culture’s parenting default. It’s harming our kids.” Subscribe here https://crosslifepf.org/join-the-crosswords-mailing-list/.
- Read Ephesians 6:10-17. Finish this statement: The best way to be safe is _______________.
- Agree or Disagree—The following quote is attributed to Mollie Hemingway. “Keeping your kids from dying or getting hurt is of secondary importance to teaching them how to live. Safety isn’t even a virtue. If you’re teaching your kids more about safety than you are about honesty, kindness, respect for others, responsibility, gratitude, integrity, cooperation, determination, social skills, enthusiasm, compassion and manners, you’re doing it wrong.”
- Take a new God-honoring risk this week. Pray about it. What are you learning?