“A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save” (Proverbs 33:17).
Years ago, when I first began my quest for freedom, I was seeing a counselor about this panic disorder. We went through the typical barrage of questions and answers for a few weeks. During one of our sessions, I explained to her how important it was for me to travel with my cell phone. When she asked why, I explained how I could immediately call someone “just in case.”
She called that a “safety valve”–the mechanism, habit or routine that each sufferer uses to help deal with a panic situation. For me, all I had to do was call someone when those terrifying thoughts would strike. By calling a friend or relative, I was forced to get the situation under control.
That was my safety valve, my pressure valve I could turn when the tension got to be too much, or the situation seemed to spiral out of control. As my heart raced wildly with anxious thoughts, I would reach for my valve of deliverance.
However, God warns us that our earthly safety valves are a “vain hope for deliverance.”
Can horses really save? Can cellular phones really bring peace? Horses stumble. Phone batteries run down. It does not matter how strong, how reliable, how trustworthy we think our safety valve is, only God can truly deliver us. He wants us to call on him as our first response, not our last resort.
Prayer: Father, I know that nothing in this world can save me. Yet, I realize that many times I have placed my trust in a safety valve. Please forgive me for not trusting you, and give me the strength to trust you more.
