In one of my novels, there’s this character. This beautiful beautiful character. A woman so striking other women envy her. Other women want to be her.
But her insides tell a different story. Because inside, she is broken. Not just kind of broken either. She is utterly and completely broken. Bound by the world. A slave to her beauty. To her figure. To the way men respond to her.
It consumes her.
She is not free.
And sadly, so many of us are the same.
We live in a country where slavery is illegal, yet so many of us are slaves.
To food. To sex. To approval. To work. To money. To alcohol.
The list goes on.
But in the midst of bondage, there is a key.
It comes from 2 Corinthians. A couple verses that I absolutely love:
I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Sometimes, the things that bind us feel impossible to escape. Sometimes, we find ourselves saying, “I can’t get over this.”
And we put so much emotion, so much emphasis, behind that word.
Can’t.
The truth is, we can’t. Not on our own. And Satan relishes in our weakness.
But maybe….
Maybe, Christ allows these thorns so we might turn to Him in a way we haven’t before.
Maybe, He wants us to learn that when temptation curls its sinewy fingers around our souls, the only way to escape is to hit our knees and cry out to the one who CAN.
Maybe, He wants to use our great weaknesses to magnify His great strength.
I’ve learned that true and lasting freedom comes through letting Him, and Him alone, be our master. Not work or sex or food or whatever else this world shoves in our face.
My prayer today, is that chains would be broken. That people would find freedom. Life-changing, heart-dancing, joy-inducing freedom in the only one who can give it. Jesus Christ.
Let’s Talk: Do you have that kind of freedom? Have you ever been a slave to something?
*Photo by Le Seigle Antoine