Towers

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe.  Proverbs 18:10

As I read this chapter, insurance popped into my mind.  I thought about all the towers we try to build through it.  Dental, life, death, health, car, house, property, rental, flood, disaster, eye, and, even though I cannot think of any more of them off the top of my head, I am sure there are many more types.  These insurances are supposedly designed for our protection.  When you really think about it though, how much money do we put into them compared to how much we use?  We spend $2100 per year on car and home insurance; not that much compared to some folks.  However, the cost has gone down as our vehicles depreciate in value, so I can't give a true amount as to what has been paid over the years.  When I think about the fact that in 36 years we have used car insurance about three times total, and twice it was for broken windshield, I shudder to think how much money could have been placed in savings.  We have used homeowners twice, once for a new roof damaged by hail and once to do minor repairs when a tree fell against our house.  Why then do we continue paying?  Just in case and because the government tells us we have to with even a threat of jail time if we do not.  These safety nets we have built for ourselves are not even completely dependable. 
Once our eldest son was making a left hand turn and a young lady ran a red light and totaled his car.  The police came and when they saw his car expected to find someone extremely injured or dead.  However, our God truly is a strong tower and no one had a scratch.  The insurance, on the other hand - not so dependable.  Since the young girl had the same insurance as my son and there were no witnesses (in their opinion), even though the passenger with my son told what happened and the police report was (in their opinion) inconclusive because they did not see the lights change, they decided to fault our son and the girl equally.  This balanced things out for the company and they didn't lose any money.  My son, on the other hand, had to pay $2000 to finish paying off his car and pay extra for one month on his insurance to compensate them.  I'm not sure what they were being compensated for, but that's the law.

God charges nothing for rescuing our son and his passenger or the girl ever.  He simply asks for gratitude and love.

I wonder just how many strongholds I have built up in my life.  Insurance is easily recognized, but what about the walls I try to build to protect my heart, my life, my desires, my loved ones and so on?

Father God, You truly are a strong tower and my righteousness.  I need to learn to run to You at every turn in life rather than build walls to try to keep myself running in a safe direction.  Your walls of safety are all I need.  The world has drawn us into its lust for self preservation so deeply that it is difficult to recognize the danger in it.  Forgive us and open our darkened eyes to the light shining in Your tower of safety and grant us the wisdom to run to You rather than worldly ideas of protection.