“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.  He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed.”  Luke 4:18

Last week was an interesting week.  First, I met with a new GI doctor who is clearly the first specialist to look at my medical history in total rather than just his area of expertise.  The result is that he feels that the diagnosis that has governed my care for the last 23 years is probably inaccurate.  In short, it is too myopic and does not consider that there is possibly an underlying problem that ties my various health issues together.  While I should be ecstatic that he cares enough to take a fresh look at things, it is unsettling to go back to the world of “undiagnosed” and start the diagnostic process over.  The following day, there was a family event that raised old wounds, fears and anger as well as a fair bit of anxiety with respect to the near future.  These are issues that I thought I was dealing with and had some amount of success in overcoming.  Clearly I have not arrested them as well as I thought.  I understand that it’s a process, but I believed that I had made more progress.  This led me…or should I say, the Holy Spirit seems to be saying to me, “There’s still work to do.” and “Trust in the Lord and don’t lean on your own understanding.”  Further, I have just completed reading the book “Wild at Heart” which has raised no small number of issues that I need to address.  As a result, over the weekend I began musing about the prisons that we create for ourselves…or at least that I do.  There are three that I would like to consider:  The past, the future and the illness.

As my wife keeps reminding me, the past holds a lot more control over my present than it should.  It is probably my worst enemy.  I believe that God has ordained all of my past experiences for a purpose and that they have molded me into the person that He wants me to be to be used for His glory.  However, the past is the past; while useful for lessons to be learned, it should not control the present and future.  The things that haunt me really can’t harm me anymore…they only have power when I give it to them.  Too often we allow the past to guide our present by giving it too much influence. Our previous experiences are things that we should learn from, but we should not allow them to inhibit our ability to function well or cripple us with fear.  When that happens, Satan is at the helm working to side line us and too often we let him.

The future can be just as bad when we allow our past experiences to create fear of the future.  Christ warns us to take one day at a time, but when we worry, we’re not doing that.  We’re allowing our perception of the past to create negative “what ifs” for the future.  Further, our culture tells us that we are entitled to everything we want.  Consequently, we are so bent on avoiding anything unpleasant and/or having the perfect life that we attempt to micromanage our future and get overwhelmed with possible deviations from our plans.  How much energy have we wasted on our anxious thoughts?  All this happens in spite of Christ’s warning not to worry as each day has enough trouble of its own while promising to provide what we need and walk with us in every trial.  Again, we allow ourselves to be hindered by our fears and reservations.

The illness factor has its own set of complexities.  We need to tend to our symptoms without allowing them to rob us of the ability to live the best possible life within our circumstances.  It’s critical that we maintain our full identity…not just the sick person persona.  In my case, I’m: a husband, father, grandfather, gardener, and most importantly a child of God.  I love art, music, creation, the ocean, warm air.  I love to: spend time with family and friends, spend time alone, spend time with fellow believers, cook, create, run, bike and sing.  There is so much more to me than my illness.  I thought I was doing a good job keeping my identity separated from my illness. Yet, when my diagnosis was called into question, I became anxious as though I might not know who I was.  My personality and circumstances have not changed in the least and yet removing the label created unwarranted turmoil.  Many of us also allow our health issues to isolate us unnecessarily.  I realize that there are many who physically cannot get out, but how many of us have given up, just stopped living and kept ourselves in isolation.  When we do that, we inhibit our ability to be of service to the kingdom and allow more time to dwell on our problems which further complicates our existence.  It may take effort, but when we are able, we need to connect with the body of Christ and serve our Lord.  Even those who are “shut in” can still have an impact through the internet.  I am so thankful for the friends that I have on line who are in many ways isolated.  They have risen above their limitations and become great prayer warriors and encouragers.  They reach out with understanding and insight that others don’t have because they walk more closely with the Lord.

In the end, the problem is our perception of who we are, what affects us and the impact that it will have on us.  Sometimes we allow ourselves to become the victim while at other times we just don’t have a clear sense of reality.  When that happens, we begin building our prisons one brick at a time.  We can’t take on a new role because we fear failure.  We refuse to rise above our illness because we may be perceived as more well than we really are.  We allow past hurts and failures to keep us from new relationships or experiences.  We refuse to take Christ’s advice and worse refuse to trust God’s sovereign will.  These and more are the bricks of our prisons.  They are created by the interpretations that we hold to be true.  However, while there are very real threats that we need to guard against, the most frequent and crippling concerns are the ones that are possible but unlikely.  In the more extreme cases, we allow our fears and failures to lower our defenses and invite in bad habits and addictions.  These are the things that we allow to hold us captive and prevent us from being and doing what God created us to be and do.  Psalm 107 put it this way: “There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in misery and chains, because they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High.”  (10-11)

By the gracious act of God the Father and the sacrifice of our Savior, Christ has set us free.  Consider the following four passages.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.  He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed.”  (Luke 4:18)

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”  (Galatians 5:1)

“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’”  (John 8:31-32)

“The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”  (John 8:35-36)

Christ has set us free from captivity, oppression, sin, legalism, fear and addiction.  All we have to do is trust God’s plan and lean on His compassion when things get difficult.  Because of sin, we will still suffer in this life.  We and our loved ones will eventually get sick and die.  We will have disappointments and problems.  We may suffer at the hands of others.  However, in God’s sovereignty, they have purpose which releases us from fear.  We may not see it, but they do.  So we have a choice as is pointed out in Galatians 5:1.  We can choose to be free indeed or we can subject ourselves to slavery again.  In the midst of my musings this past week, God provided a timely devotional from John Piper.  In summary, he points out that “To be fully free, we must have the desire, the ability, and the opportunity to do what will make us happy forever. No regrets. And only Jesus, the Son of God who died and rose for us, can make that possible.”  The desire is the key over which we have control.

Christ has set us free, but despite our faith in Him, we have built up these prisons that need to be torn down.  Thankfully we have the instructions for that as well.  We must arrest the thoughts that undermine our faith and trust in God.  When we do, the walls come down.  If you desire to be truly free, here are some steps to start…not an exhaustive list, but a good start.  Feel free to search God’s word to tailor it to your needs.

• Confess – “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)  God’s grace extends to our past, present and future sins.  Ask for forgiveness for everything…including the doubt and lack of trust.
• Trust – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)
• Keep a proper perspective – “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  (Colossians 3:2-5)
• Be alert- “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)
• Be bold- “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
• Ask for help with faith-“Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3) “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22)
• Destroy and capture – “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
• Trade the negative thoughts for the proper ones – “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

When we spend our time focusing on God’s truths, relying on His strength, and guarding our minds and our souls, we will look around us and find that the prisons of doubt, worry, and addiction have been torn down.  It takes time and effort, but isn’t it worth the work to be free and to live freely in Christ without fear and regret?  Look around and see what prisons hold you captive and start tearing them down.  In God’s strength you are able and He promises to be with you at all times.  When you do, rather than living like you’re a prisoner you can be who you were created to be and “live like your loved”.