Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
So if we believe this, if we own it, if we hold desperately to it, then what could our lives be like?
There could be no limits to our worship of God, our relationships with God and others, and our reach for God.
I think the foundation of any good relationship is trust. Trust is the reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety of a person or thing; confidence. So the first question is do I trust God? He is certainly trust-worthy, but does my life demonstrate a reliance on him and a confidence in him. Do I go to him with the smallest details to the greatest crisis and believe that he will guide me through?
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight.”
Do I believe him? Can I trust him with all my heart or just when I really need help out of a difficult situation? Can I lean on on his sovereignty rather than my limited understanding? WIll I acknowledge him knowing that he will make my path straight?
So what keeps us from trusting God? For me it gets difficult when I focus on my circumstances rather than him. Those are the times when I am not seeking him through scripture and prayer. When I allow feeling of guilt, pride, bitterness to take hold, I feel like God is far, far away instead of claiming the truth that he lives in me. When other people have hurt us in someway we project that onto God and question him rather than seeing that we have created an idol out of our expectations of other people.
However, if I am living in the freedom that Christ has given me, I can be transformed and experience an intimacy with God that lifts me up above my circumstances. It helps me see the world more like God sees it so I can build relationships that glorify Him.
I have really begun to see this in my relationship with our children. By trusting God I am learning to be the mother that my children need rather than asking him to “fix” my kids when things aren’t going my way. He is teaching me how to listen and respond rather than become angry and react. It is amazing what God has taught me through my 6 and 7 year old daughter and son just in the last 7 months. (What can I expect when they are teenagers?)
By trusting God I have developed some great relationships with other women. He has provided great women to meet with for Bible studies and small groups. He has given me the ability to counsel college girls and connect my story to what they are facing now. He has given me several incredible mentors who I can pour my heart out to so that I can be filled up with their knowledge and experience as wives and mothers as they walk with the Lord.
By trusting God my marriage is being transformed. I have finally experienced freedom in one area that I will share more about which has lead to a renewed passion and desire for my husband. It comes out in how I chose to respect him and help him and talk to him. It comes out in how I trust him and encourage him and challenge him.
Finally, if I embrace the freedom I have in Christ there will be no limits to my reach for God. God can make a difference through me in my community, in my country, and in this world. I can clearly see who these people are and listen for the opportunities he gives me to share with them. He also gives me the boldness to speak truth which I could not do in my own ability.
In Matthew 28:16-20 as the eleven remaining disciples go to see Jesus for the first time after his death and resurrection, Jesus gives them, and us, the Great Commission. “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus says because of his authority we are to go. It doesn’t sound very optional. Notice he isn’t asking us to do it alone either. He promises he will always be with us. So who is God telling you to go to? Is it a neighbor or a family member? It is to someone with different political views than you? Is it to a complete stranger in the grocery store or a coworker? Is it to a nation on the other side of the world?
Pray and ask God to open your eyes to see the people around you that he wants you to go to and then ask Him for the boldness to approach them. He will give you the words to say if you just trust him. I have seen this to be true in my life more and more as I grab a hold of this freedom I have in Christ.
While I was teaching at the University of Evansville, there was a girl in my class who was virtually unnoticeable. She never made eye contact, never spoke, and looked to be afraid of the world. Through an assignment on body image, I was able to reach out via an email to all students who scored below the “acceptable” range. She was one those students. She approached me after class the next day and asked if we could talk. After a brief conversation that day I gave her a hug, which I normally am not very comfortable doing, but I just felt it was the right way to end the conversation. We started to meet regularly. I learned that she was petrified of hugs or being touched at all. She had been abused her entire life - physically, sexually, emotionally, verbally, etc. She had even attempted suicide earlier that semester. I encouraged her to write because talking was very difficult. I provided a safe place and a listening ear and words or encouragement. I shared my faith and how much God loves her even if no human being ever had.
This young lady with graduate from the University of Evansville next month. She has published a number of short stories and other pieces that all tell her story and have given her an avenue to heal. She is planning to study abroad this summer and attend graduate school in the fall. She welcomes hugs from friends now and smiles all the time. God has transformed her and I got to be a part of that because he said go and I went.
Another story I want to share took place last fall in my own home. God said go and I didn’t even have to leave my house. He brought the person to me. I had planned my usual monthly luncheon for moms and their kids. Normally I had anywhere from 6 to 10 moms who would come for lunch and hang out for a couple hours while all the kids played. This particular day I had a feeling that no one would show up. Normally that would freak me out, but I had a real peace about it. Someone did come and I believe God appointed that lunch for just the two of us. I had only just met this woman a couple months earlier, but we enjoyed visiting and God lead me to share my faith with her. We talked about church, heaven and hell, our kids, and personal relationship with Jesus. She comes to church now and is getting involved in other ways with several other Christian woman. I don’t know the final outcome of our lunch that day, but I do know God said go and I responded by trusting him and allowing him to lead.
So the question I ask again is if we believe God loves us and he sees us as pure, holy and blameless through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, what could our lives be like? What would our relationships be like? What would our marriages be like? What would our legacy on the earth be once we are gone?
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