The Character of Safety
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The idea of safety came to me while speaking with a friend/ church member. She’s a wonderfully social extrovert who the Lord trusts to be “in the action” among the saints. She has a beautiful gift of counsel and a real ministry of accountability…and, she’s an encourager! In a conversation she asked why I did not open myself up to other people like I did with her, why I did not allow others the chance to know me like she knows me. My response flowed out of me that day and became a “light” to help me understand better who I am and what is important to me. I told her simply, “Well, you’re safe.”
The opposite of safe is dangerous… if a woman is dangerous nothing is safe around her– husband, children, ministry ideas, confessions of weakness, pleas for accountability and encouragement. She’s a danger to herself and those around her. In the local church, this dangerous woman likely has influence and one must take care to walk upright and see clearly and let God’s light show us what we need to see.
So, what does it mean to be a woman who is safe?
From where I sit, safe means traceable trustworthiness. It means that I can see a track record in your life of one who is trustworthy. It means that being around you is easy (even when it’s tough) because I know the God in you is always for me. Always. A safe woman is one with whom the ground is neutral, and as friendship develops every topic is open for scrutiny, challenge and honest feedback. Fellowship comes through the true display of love through asking the hard questions and offering the blunt truth.
This lesson was about Athaliah and Jehosheba. These two women–mother and daughter–taught us about being dangerous and safe, respectively. You’ll find their stories in 2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 22-23.
Athaliah, the daughter of Jezebel and Ahab, taught her son Ahaziah the king to do wickedness. We examined the generational effect of the spirit of Jezebel. Athaliah was governed by her natural senses. She acted on what she saw (2 Kings 11:1, 14) and what she heard (v. 13). She destroyed the line of legitimate heirs…so she thought.
Principle: Watch out for a woman who has no accountability and no heart to nurture the seed of the king. This woman is dangerous.
Jehosheba, Athaliah’s daughter, intercepted and pulled Joash from among the dead of her brother Ahaziah’s sons. Jehosheba took Joash and his nurse, and hid them in the temple of the Lord with she and her husband the priest Jehoiada. After six years of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada staged a take over plot and crowned Joash king at age seven before the people.
From Jehosheba we learn what makes us safe.
- Our covenant with God makes us safe, especially when we grew up in dangerous environments. Jehosheba was the child of godly and mixed seed. Athaliah the daughter of Jezebel married Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat because of a covenant between Jehoshaphat and Ahab.
- Seeing through the blood makes us safe. We have to see beyond the carnage of what is dead, and rescue the living. Because Jehosheba took Joash, a chance for godly leadership was alive.
- Quickly assessing needs makes us safe. Jehosheba took Joash and his nurse into safety.
Let’s be intentional to thank the Jehosheba God sent to rescue us and hide us in His presence. She’s a noteworthy woman in scripture and a model for the boldness, courage, and power of choice it takes to be a woman who is safe.
Selah, Kingdom Queens. Amen.
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The Bereans' Commentary with Shaunta D. Scroggins, Ed.D. 
Interesting!