No Longer a Slave

Fear.

How crippling that four letter word can be. We as humans fear so much. We fear the judgment of others and what they might think. We fear storms, bugs, lightning, and rollercoasters. Some fear the dark or the thought of being lonely someday. Many fear the reality of death, loss, and pain. Our whole lives we will go fearing something.

As a child you feared the “monsters” that hid in the closet and under the bed. But then you grow up and look back on those monsters with a smile, because you now know how silly that fear you had was, thinking “I would trade getting older for monsters any day.” N

ow you carry around the fear of growing up, slowing down, and losing the people you love.

If I am honest right now, the first week of my trip to Jamaica I felt a little more than fear. I was more or less terrified.

All of the things I had worked out in my mind and all of the expectations I had…we’re completely torn apart. Many of the emotions I felt had not been written into my planner, and I HATED it! I hated the loss of control and understanding. I hated the idea of not knowing where my head was going to be laying each night or where my food and water would come from. I let the fear of not knowing take over. And when it did…so much more followed.

I latched onto the fear of not being liked or accepted and the fear of speaking to those I didn’t yet know. I let all of the joyful thoughts and bold excitement fade into the background. When I allowed all of these to sit and fester, I began to doubt why God brought me to this beautiful country. I began to question if I was really meant to be there.

And honestly, if God was even listening.

People easily forget God in the worry and fear. In the daily shuffle its so easy to box Him up. I’m guilty of this. I do it all the time, everyday…but as I sit here writing this, I am surrounded by his glory.

Birds sit on top of a nearby mango tree chirping away, the butterflies dance, and the Sun rises to start a new day.

I wonder “How I can so easily and so often forget about the one who puts breath in my lungs and pumps blood to my heart?” As I meditate on the question, I come to a simple conclusion. Humanity often blocks out or forgets God because we have allowed ourselves to become slaves of all earthly things. Slaves to worry, work, kids, loneliness, and fear. Satan showed us the chains and the shackles, he even threw down the key. And what did we do? We picked them up and put them on ourselves.

As we sit chained, we begin to forget.

If I have learned anything in this trip thus far, it is the liberating fact that I am truly free! I am not a slave to things of this earth. I am not a slave to worry or fear. I am not a prisoner of loss or doubt. No longer am I going to work for evil because I am a free child of God. I have been set free and no longer do chains hold me.
“I’m no longer a slave to fear, for I am a child of God.”