The Checkpoint: Mickey-17 and Refuge

In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence
and his children have a refuge. Proverbs 14:6

Mickey Barnes needed to escape his loan sharks, so he did the safest thing he could think of. He applied to be an expendable in the Nifelheim space program. His body was copied and pasted into a printing machine, and every time he died in space, a new version of him came out. He forsook a life of running from the mob for a life of being poisoned, eaten, radiated, crushed, and burned. Mickey started to regret his decision around his 17th rebirth, but he learned that danger cannot be escaped. Safety is found in who is protecting you.

Proverbs 14:6 uses the word confidence or security depending on which translation you are reading from. Though they are different words, security and confidence embody the same goal. We are searching for a guarantee that life won’t slip into unmanageable chaos. Proverbs is very confident that “fear of the Lord” is the remedy against danger.

The phrase “Fear of the Lord” is a special kind of relationship with God, and the English language doesn’t do it justice. We use the word fear to define a victim running from a knife-wielding clown, but in this case, fear is a sense of awe, respect, and appropriate boundaries. It’s the equivalent of meeting the President of the United States. You would not feel safe spilling your drink on the ruler of the free world, nor would you be able to pants them in public. The consequences would be dire. But, in any sort of tussle or skirmish, you would be confident that the POTUS would make it disappear.

Jesus is a paradox when it comes to fear and awe. The disciples clung to him when life threw its worst problems, and Jesus could make them go away. On the other hand, he was the easiest target to accuse, betray, deny, belittle, and punish. In retrospect, it seems that Jesus wanted to show us that we can place all our confidence in God, because even when we face the problems of betrayal, denial, and punishment, God still brings about the best outcome.

That is a better option than becoming expendable in a space program.

FIGURE IT OUT:

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’^[a] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
John 15:18-20

But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Matthew 24:13

1. Circle all the words or phrases that jumped out at you
2. How does Jesus guarantee protection and safety?
3. How does Jesus guarantee danger and problems?
4. In the worst-case scenario, what comforts can we get from Jesus’ words?