Linus and That Stupid Blanket

On my way to work one day this week, I spotted a woman in the carpool lane re-entering the lanes with those of us stuck in traffic. Whenever I see drivers zig-zagging in and out of the carpool lane, I always check to see if they are alone. In this case, this woman was alone and in my rightness-oriented mind, I couldn't help but shake my head. I've always wanted to go in the carpool lane as a single driver, but never have done so outside of the hours I am allowed to. As I drove alongside this woman, I noticed that she had a blanket up to her nose and she kept re-adjusting it which then triggered a sense of curiosity and suspicion on my part. As I passed her, I kept watching her in my rearview mirror and I thought that perhaps she was changing her shirt. However, this blanket-up-to-the-nose thing continued and I purposely slowed down so that she could drive alongside me again. I couldn't believe what I saw: she was sucking her thumb while holding her tattered blanket! 

If you asked Freud, Jung or Maslow to analyze this woman's odd habit, they'd all probably say she had an oral fixation, that she was insecure and that she didn't bond to her mother when she was an infant. All of the answers may be a possibility, but it got me thinking about an even deeper issue of her heart. We all know that babies either have a pacifier, thumb, blanket or all three and those are a source of comfort that bring about security. I remember when I sucked my thumb until I was six and oh, it was so hard to give up. However, when an adult sucks their thumb, it seems odd because they "should've" given that up when they were kids. The fact of the matter remains in all our hearts: we all long for security. 

I've talked about this before but with today's economy, there is no better time to focus on the want of security. Many of those who thought that they had a forever job have experienced downsizing in their company, loss of business and paycuts. Businesses, small and large have closed. Many homes are going into foreclosure or residents are short selling. I recently read that 49% of the population that live in a household, are on some kind of government assistance. Families can't even fill their gas tank to capacity because gas prices are egregiously high. And you know what is the only security? gold. The price of gold per ounce has risen and yes, we should all trade in any gold that we have for cash. 


I remember a time when I naively thought that cutting hair will always attract customers despite the woes of the economy because everyone has hair. Ha! There are so many people who have learned to cut their own hair so that they can save instead for their groceries or gas. 

What gives you security? A husband? A wonderful marriage? A job with benefits? A good relationship with your kids? Your friends? Your bank account? Your hobbies? A bar of gold? Love? Politics? Your family? Your talents? Happiness? Satisfaction? Pride? Confidence? Belief in yourself? If only I...fill in the blank.


I'm not perfect and while I would like to be, I sometimes find my security in things, in people-temporal, fleeting and failing. I'm not sure why I do this because I know the truth and the Source of security. As a Christian, I must daily remind myself that all my hope is in Christ. My security AND satisfaction must be bound in Him alone. 

You can't have security unless you find satisfaction in something. I'll even go further and say it: you can't have security unless you have satisfaction in Christ. What does it mean to have full satisfaction in Christ? It means that your joy is made complete because you relish Him. You delight in His ways and your devotion is fully to Him. John Piper says,  "The longing to be happy is a universal human experience, and it is good, not sinful. We should never try to deny or resist our longing to be happy, as though it were a bad impulse. Instead we should seek to intensify this longing and nourish it with whatever will provide the deepest and most enduring satisfaction. The deepest and most enduring happiness is found only in God." 

I love what George Mueller says about happiness: "The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. For I seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers, I might seek to relieve the distress, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a child of God in this world; and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit."*

Sometimes life is mundane and it laborious to always desire God. However, we are called to cultivate our relationship with the Lord by reading His Word, praying and worshiping Him. My heart needs to be molded to His will (not to my busy schedule) and as John Piper says, "He is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him". To write such words are not cliche, I earnestly seek this. God will never disappoint and His security is top-notch!

         On God rests my salvation and my glory;

my mighty rock, my refuge is God-Psalm 62:7 

         Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.-Psalm 1:1-3 

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days-Psalm 90:14 



Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!-Psalm 119:36


if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
And the LORD will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail-Isaiah 58:10-11 




*(Autobiography of George Mueller, compiled by Fred Bergen, [London: J. Nisbet Co., 1906], pp. 152-154].