Letting the chains fall.....

I can feel the weight of life's burdens one by one holding me down. A beam of insecurity, boulder of fear, shackle of shame and before I know it I'm no longer free but a prisoner to the chains that I have willingly helped enslave myself to. 

Life gets difficult, relationships struggle, bills pile up, sickness happens, kids grow, cars break down and chaos happens. It always seems like its enough to just keep up and there is always one disaster after another waiting around the bend just when there seems to be a place of calmness. In the midst of the chaos the emotions that well up within us become a powerful weapon of survival. As I have shared before if we allow an attitude of praise to be on our lips continually then regardless of what struggles come we will approach it with confidence and trust, but if we continually allow our circumstances to dictate our emotions and are driven by negativity we will slowly over time find ourselves a prisoner to the disappointments of life. No matter how you look at it life is disappointing, I know this sounds negative but the things that we find satisfaction with in life are temporary because life is temporary. This world is merely a place in which we pass through as we run into the glorious arms of Jesus. “As you come to him, the living Stone-rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him-you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ….you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:4-5,9 NIV)

If our confidence is in the things of this world we will be let down over and over but if our contentment is found in the Sovereignty of Christ then we will be confident regardless of what life brings. It's not easy and there may be seasons where you struggle more than others with worry, fear, and the circumstances of your life but in those moments its important to evaluate how much you are allowing yourself to surrender to Him. You can be boggled down by difficult circumstances but not a be a prisoner to them. You can be crushed but not defeated. You can be unsure of the future but not be consumed by it. You can allow the chains of fear, worry, insecurity, sin, and shame to hold you captive or you can allow Christ to break those chains with His power and defeat the enemy time after time whenever you call on His name.

The enemy is purposefully perusing you continuously just waiting for any opportunity to sneak through the cracks of your circumstances and place those chains around you. At the time it seems like no big deal maybe you just took your eyes off of the cross for a second and allowed your human emotions to kick in and worry about a job, relationship, finances or whatever but the next thing you know Satan has quietly worked his way in and placed a stronghold on you. For me its been with health issues. Its easy to get consumed and worry about whats ahead but what ends up happening is I find myself worrying more about the situation and less about keeping up my guard against the enemy so then the heaviness starts building and the chains accumulating until  I have surrendered not to Christ and His freedom but to the prison walls of my circumstances. Galatians 5:1 "In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery."

One of my favorite songs right now is "Overcome" by Jeremy Camp. The second verse says "All authority every victory is Yours. We will overcome by the blood of the lamb and the words of our testimony." Because Jesus died on the cross we can be confident that the chains of our past sins, insecurities and failures have been erased and redeemed. Because Jesus died on the cross we can hand over every piece of our lives and allow Him to have the ultimate authority and power. Allow the chains to fall off today and rest in the freedom that He has ransomed for You.