Freedom

Freedom.

We admire those who fight for it. We seek it. We envy those who seem to have found it. Yet somehow, we often see it as out of reach. Just some fantasy thing in a far-off land, that only the lucky ones ever find.

In the Bible, the Israelites waited for their freedom for so long. You can go back as far as Genesis where God prophesied this freedom.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.

Genesis 15:12-14

While the Israelites were enslaved, God spoke to Moses through the burning bush and sent him back to Egypt where he would lead the Israelites to their freedom. Even though this freedom was prophesied, it was promised, it even seemed within reach… it wasn’t as simple as just walking out of Egypt. This is a sample of the back and forth between Moses and Pharaoh that went on during the plagues God sent.

27 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said to them. “The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer." 

29 Moses replied, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.”… 

33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. 34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. 35 So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.

Exodus 7

Every time God performs the miraculous for Pharaoh, he continues to only be willing to submit to God when he needs something. Pharaoh will ask for forgiveness and repentance when he needs deliverance from the plagues, but once that prayer is answered he decides, "well no, I got what I wanted so I'm not willing to give you your freedom."

After several plagues, Pharaoh starts getting more desperate and begins offering snippets of freedom to the Israelites.

He allows just the men their freedom. Moses refuses, knowing that God is promising freedom not just for the men, but the women, children, and flocks as well.

After another plague, Pharaoh becomes more desperate and allows the men, women and children their freedom but refuses to let them take their animals with. Moses again refuses, telling Pharaoh that the flocks must go with as well.

Sometimes, I’m my own Pharaoh. I’m willing to offer myself freedom in certain areas, but still hold control over others. I look at the situation around me and think, “okay, enough!” and when I get some reprieve for the storm, I quickly grab back on to any sense of control. I’ll offer myself freedom in one area, only to hold tighter in another. I let the men, women, and children go, but insist that the flocks stay with me.

Am I really free if parts of me are still enslaved?

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.

Galatians 5:1

He already set us free.

Why do we live like slaves?
Why do we try to put the shackles back on?
Why do we try to keep in bondage what God has set free?

Why do we accept partial freedom instead of insisting on the complete freedom that God promised?

I don’t want to live a life where I take the shackles off my feet, but keep my hands bound. I want to be able to run and fly. To be completely free.

You’re not bound by anxiety.
You’re not bound by brokenness.

You’re free from the destructive thoughts, the voice that whispers in your ears in the dead of night. The voice that says you’re not good enough, that you’ll never be enough.

You’re free from the voice telling you you’ll be happy if you just lose five more pounds, if you can just skip another meal. The voice that knows your biggest insecurities and repeats them again and again.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

For freedom.

That He set us free.

That He set ME free. Freedom is not just for people who have it all together. It’s for me. It’s for you. Fight for your freedom. Don’t hold back, let Him in to every area of your life, because that is when you will truly know freedom. There’s no chain His love can’t break.

Remain in Him.

Embrace freedom.