Assurance

So much of my anxiety rests on needing to feel safe, and I feel safe in concrete things I can be sure of. I feel safe in what is known. It is reliable. It is a guaranteed thing. Here I can have complete freedom from doubt. Here I can act from complete confidence. Sounds amazing, right? But what happens when…there is little we have to be sure of. I would even dare to say, there is nothing we can be completely sure of. This thought is terrifying…humbling…vulnerable.

I could let this place of surrender lead me to more anxiety and despair, but what if I leaned into faith and trust instead? What if I allowed for the mysteries of life to unfold beauty before me, rather than pushing beauty aside for the sake of security? What if I felt safety through freedom instead of through circumstances? What if I gained my confidence through the release of control rather than by the bootstraps of my own inner strength?

We are ALL longing for affirmation, security, and assurance that we are okay. And this longing is good! From the answer to this longing, we gain confidence and self-worth. What is important though is where we find the answer to this longing. What rest would you experience if you knew the answer has always been there, and it has never changed? You have never needed to go find it, to earn it, or maintain it. You have assurance within your circumstances, but you also have assurance within your personhood. What if today, and every day, you traded the need for assurance for the proclamation of freedom…for the vulnerability of trust?