Unshackled Moments ~ November 15 ~ Break Every Chain

Others sat in darkness and gloom— prisoners in cruel chains— because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the counsel of the Most High. He broke their spirits with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and gloom and broke their chains apart. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for all humanity.

- Psalm 107:10-15

We all have flaws, character defects, attitude problems, thought patterns and habitual sins  that we don't like about ourselves. As Christians we are not who, where, what, how and hopefully why we used to be by a long shot. Many things on our own personal version of the list above have been eliminated or greatly reduced in frequency and or magnitude. But the list is still there. Because we have not yet received the full manifestation of our sanctification and restoration. Basically that means we're still not perfect. And we're not. We're not what we will be when we see Him, become like Him and are unhindered in our reflecting of His glory. But we're closer.

Once we were rebels, enemies of God and lovers of self. The results were chains and bondage, darkness and gloom. We were not only enemies but prisoners. Jesus released us from our prison and set us free, but we walked out shackled, wrapped in chains. Some chains became broken and fell off right away, Some lost some links and became smaller, less of a hindrance but remain today. And the result is heaviness. We bring a little of the darkness and gloom from the old prison of the past into the present freedom we live in today.

The chains don't feel lighter. But they are. If we  were to fill a five gallon bucket with water it would weigh about 40 pounds. I can lift that. It doesn't feel all that heavy. But if I had to hold it, without setting it down for 8 hours it would become an impossible weight to bear. It would hurt to hold it. Even if 2 ounces were removed every hour and it only weighed 32 pounds by the end, 20 % lighter, it would feel much heavier than when the experiment began.

So it is with sin. Some chains are removed, and as we walk with Jesus, others fall away or are reduced, factually becoming lighter, smaller, less of a problem. But the relative weight of them and our awareness of their heaviness becomes greater. It reminds us of how far we have to go to be fully and truly free. But the great news is that we can find rest in Him. We can access His strength. His grace is sufficient both to carry the weight that is not yet gone and to loosen more and more each day. The verses above show a great promise. We became prisoners. Prisoners to darkness and gloom. Prisoners to addictions and attitudes that beat us in punishment. Our torments were literally chained to us. But we cried out to God for help, and He saved us from our distress! He brought us into the light and transformed us from enemies to children of God! We have been redeemed! Then He broke our chains apart. Not some of the chains. Not most of the chains. All of them. Broken apart. He set the prisoners completely free.

If we are His, we can cling to this and remember that He is not yet finished with His work in us. He will break each and every chain, and eliminate all darkness and gloom before it's all over. And if the lighter weight we now carry has begun to be more than we can bear, we can still call out to Him in our distress and have the load lightened more. He will continue His work as we cry out to Him and surrender more and more to His hand. He does this freeing work because of His love and mercy toward all humanity, which means that if you are not yet His and the chains have not begun to be loosened, the call to freedom, the way of escape is before you. The door has been opened, the jailer has been defeated. Flee your cell and run to Jesus today. He will begin the work and break every chain.

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