Friday, July 13, 2012

Free to Live

Free to Live

We have so much freedom to do what we want, to live how we want.  Yet, we live more imprisoned than those who are physically behind bars.  In a sense, inmates live with more freedom than we do because at least they recognize their imprisonment.

There have been so many times I had not even realized I was allowing something to hold me captive. 

I have been convicted lately by feeling the sense of holding myself back. Placing my faith behind prison walls so to say. I experience joyful situations on a daily basis, yet hold back my laughter. I experience so much generosity from my husband, children, and friends, yet hold back my gratitude.
I hold back.  I ask myself "why?"  I hear no answer.  I only hear the faintest sound spelling out a 4-letter word...FEAR.

I can be afraid of EVERYTHING if I allow it!  Spiders & snakes (ok, who isn't?), vehicles slamming into mine, falling & busting my head wide open, getting a freaky skin eating disease, an airplane crashing right into my bedroom as I sleep.... Get my point?  It goes on and on and even gets more ridiculous the more I give way to fear.

Fear can imprison me if I allow it. Fear is the number one lie in my life that I allow to hold me back.
There are times when I recognize it and I choose to fight it with the weapons God has equipped me with, His Word.  Then other times, I run and cower, hoping the fearful situation just disappears as quickly as it came. 

In my cowardliness, I feel the weight of the shackles on my hands and feet.  I am paralyzed, unmoving.  This is when I need to break free my faith that I casually placed aside.  Faith means believing.  Believing is choosing.  Choosing is action. 

Fear wants to paralyze us.  Faith wants to propel us into action, freeing us.
My prayer is that freedom is not just a word from my mouth but an action from my faith.  That I will live in freedom everyday and not take it for granted.  For now, I will tackle Fear and all its false realities. I will choose to live in freedom for that is the gift Jesus died to give, not just me, but us all.

He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, Announce freedom to all captives... Isaiah 61:1 The Message
You are not slaves; you are free. 1 Peter 2:16
So Christ has really set us free. Galatians 5:1


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