Fun: The Outworking of Feeling Secure

Some friends dropped over for a chat recently.  It was really fun to have them do that.  We had such a great spontaneous chat about life, family and bicycle maintenance.  It seems that being spontaneous and letting yourself enjoy life are certainly aspects of having fun. I believe that both are somewhat connected to how we view ourselves. Some people really don’t care that much about what others think of them.  Other people are highly concerned and keep taking the temperature in the room to see how they are doing.  Why is this?

Perhaps it has to do with a sense of felt security.  If we are secure in ourselves, what people call “comfortable in their own skin,” then we don’t really care what others think of us.  This releases us to do new things, be spontaneous and be fun-loving. We have some friends who light up the room every time they walk in.  Even though they’ve had tremendous hardship in their lives over the years, they’ve been saved out of darkness and are very aware of what God has done.  Our friend says she talks to Jesus all the time.  This is something we don’t hear of often these days.

The connection between feeling secure in yourself and having fun is on display when David brought the ark into Jerusalem.  David is crazy happy to have this finally happen, and he shows it with every dance move he makes.  His first wife, Michal, witnessed this. But instead of rejoicing at the coming of God’s immediate presence, she is small-hearted.  She is critical of David’s enjoyment, and possibly jealous of his ability to have fun altogether.  David’s heart is full, and his actions are magnanimous as he gives away large qualities of food to everyone who came to the party. 

But Michal can’t see past protocol. 

We can almost feel her small, critical soul getting ready to judge David. Why?  Of course we can’t be certain, but she appears to have the directly opposite view of God as David does.  Instead, we see a shrunken, insecure person lash out.  It is the end of her close relationship with David, or so it seems.  She is a broken individual.

The more science discovers about the human brain and how it works, the more obvious it becomes that humans were actually created to be joyful beings.  When our emotions are healthy and we are not experiencing the impact of spiritual conflicts, we are joyful.  This transformation is quite common when people come to the end of their Steps to Freedom in Christ appointments.  There is a sense of lightness to their spirit which was not present before.  They look more joyful and alive. They are more free to be who God created them to be.

God has given us the tools of repentance and forgiveness to bring about our personal and relational renewal. Renewal allows us to be more secure and therefore to be more spontaneous and have the fun God has planned for us.