Showing posts with label burdens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burdens. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Don't Be Bound by Your Chains



Imagine being bound.  Not with just handcuffs but with chains, thick, heavy, and lots of them.  They are across your back, tying your hands down, arms, legs and feet too.  You can’t breathe; you beg for mercy yet you can’t find it.  There’s no means of escape, and you feel hopeless.  There’s no one to save you, and you want to give up. 


This is how our fears, doubts, addictions, worries, and whatever sin in our lives weigh us down.  We’re bound by them, unable to function or breathe.  They bind us and keep us from living a fulfilling and joyous life.  Yet, we keep them.  We don’t want them to do what they do, but we don’t get rid of them. 

I’m no exception to this.  I let my doubts, worries, and fears bind me.  When I don’t think that I can pay a bill, I let worry eat at me until I’m literally sick.  That’s a chain.  That chain will keep me from fully serving God.  How can I trust Him, have faith in Him, when I’m doubting His ability to take care of me? 

And it’s God who is our Provider.  It’s not the man who signs our checks.  It’s God.  So, why do we doubt Him and let these chains bind us?  We’re human.  We want total control, even if it makes us miserable, but we need to get rid of that.  We need to let God drive us.  He made us to serve Him, and what better way to serve Him than to give Him complete control of our lives?  What can believing Him for help hurt?  It can’t.  It will on HELP us. 

I saw this vision in my spirit one day during church.  Our praise team was singing about how the power of Jesus’ Blood will break every chain in our lives.  God showed me chains literally falling off of His children, landing at the feet of our Savior.  I saw Jesus sitting in a throne.  His feet were nail-scarred so were His hands.  He was clothed in white, and the heavy silver chains were lying at those nail-scarred feet.  Oh imagine how freeing that was!  To see that my chains were lying at Jesus’ feet!  We don’t have to be bound by these chains.  We can choose LIFE!  What kind of life is it to feel like we’re carrying around a heavy burden?  We don’t have to. 

How do you get rid of your chains?  It’s easy.  Praise and Thanksgiving!  Do you remember Paul and Silas who were imprisoned?  Instead of letting their chains get them down, they decided that they were going to sing to God and praise Him!  What happened then?  There was an earthquake, and their chains were loosed and the door to the cell was opened!  They were free, all because they sang praises to God!

Acts 16:25, 26                                                                                                                        
 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

Ask God to help you get rid of those chains today.  It’s your decision to let them go and live a happy, full life without the burden of these chains.  God loves you, and He wants you to be free!


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Where Is God? Why hasn't He heard my pleas?!

How many times have you wondered where God was in your distress?  Have you echoed David's words in Psalm 22:1?

My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?  Why are You so far from helping me, And from the words of my groaning?

You don't hear an immediate answer.  You cry out again.

O my God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;... (Psalm 22:2)

You feel like everyone is getting their answers, but not you.

 They cried to You, and were delivered...  (Psalm 22:5)

Again you plea.

Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help. (Psalm 22:11)

You're weak.  You can't face the world on your own.  You need someone, but you can't find someone.  Your prayers are bouncing off the walls.  Face it.  We've all been there.

I think Psalms is probably one of the most relatable books of the Bible.  Why?  Because there is so much in it that we deal with on a daily basis.

Honestly, I can't tell you how many times I've read it.  It's comforting to know that I'm not alone in experiencing what I've gone through or am going through.

Take this Psalm for instance.  David was suffering.  And just like most Christians, we plea for someone to ease our suffering, and we beg for someone - God - to help us bear our troubles.  We can't bear them alone, but we don't let go like we should.

When we don't let go, God can't work in our lives.  He can't give us "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding."  (Phil. 4:7)

God doesn't want us to suffer.  Suffering is a curse, brought on by the enemy.  God only deals in blessings.  He wants to help!

Eventually, in that same Psalm, David acknowledges that God "...has not despised nor abhorred the afflictions of the afflicted; Nor has he hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him, He heard." (Psalm 22:24)

He came to his senses and realized that God wasn't the one despising or abhorring him and his people.  God had in fact heard his cries!

Don't let the enemy lie to you and tell you God isn't hearing you.  He is!  You just have to believe He'll help and then receive that help.  He's there for you to bear your burdens.  You just have to let Him. 

The world doesn't have to weigh on your shoulders.  God's there, like He always has been.


Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11: 29, 30)