Free Indeed

Many Americans don’t know what Independence Day really means. What we celebrate is the day we were set free from the dominance of the country of England in 1776.  That was the time we were set free as a people to worship God as we understood Him. We no longer needed to be in bondage to a foreign government to take away our income with heavy taxes and our freedom to worship as we pleased. 

One evening Rose and I hosted a young man for supper. As we visited together about his work and his children, he responded that it was a positive time for him. We then asked how his relationship was with his wife, to which he responded “very difficult!”  We tried to be helpful to him, but suddenly we discovered that we were not doing well in our own communication with each other.  The harder we tried to rectify the problem with words, the less we understood each other. It was discouraging to know that we might have caused this young man’s evening to be ruined. After he left, Rose and I tried again to talk about what had happened to the two of us, only to still feel like there was a breach in our spirits. It was at that point that God spoke to me saying, “Why don’t you ask me for help with this challenge?” I felt rebuked for not thinking about asking Him sooner. The moment we finished praying, there was a huge change. It was as though we had been set free of the invisible bars that had kept us from understanding each other.  It is a wonderful experience to live in a free country, but it is even more powerful to be set free from the spiritual warfare that hinders our oneness with each other and with our God.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”

John 8:36

Harry Houdini, the famed escape artist issued a challenge wherever he went. He could be locked in any jail cell in the country, he claimed, and set himself free quickly and easily. Always he kept his promise, but one time something went wrong. Houdini entered the jail in his street clothes; the heavy, metal doors clanged shut behind him. He took from his belt a concealed piece of metal, strong and flexible. He set to work immediately, but something seemed to be unusual about this lock. For 30 minutes he worked and got nowhere. An hour passed, and still he had not opened the door. By now he was bathed in sweat and panting in exasperation, but he still could not pick the lock. Finally, after laboring for two hours, Harry Houdini collapsed in frustration and failure against the door he could not unlock, and it swung open! The door had not been locked, but in his mind it was locked. All he really had to do was lean against the handle and walk out of the jail cell. 

We, like Houdini, sweat and get frustrated by our sincere attempts at overcoming a difficult situation in our life. Then when we get to the “end of our rope”, we cry out to God and Jesus sets us free, and we are free indeed!

Al Yoder

7/4/2011