Years ago, I read the historical fiction book The Mark of the Lion by Francine Rivers. Set almost 100 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, a young Christian woman named Hadassah was a slave belonging to a Roman family. Eventually, her faith was discovered. By Roman law it made her a criminal, so she was taken to the arena for the “games.” There was no game. She was going to be fed to a hungry lion in front of hundreds of people.
She had lived her entire life filled with fear. Fear of being discovered. Fear of being arrested. Fear of dying. While awaiting her death in the dungeon, she realized that she was no longer afraid. She was free. Alone in her cell, she sang praises to God, free from the chains that had kept her imprisoned while she was still able to walk in the sun.
When I read that story, I recognized my own chains. I was constantly fearful. I was afraid of rejection and abandonment. I was afraid of my darkest struggles being exposed. I was afraid of being imperfect. I thought, “I want that kind of freedom. I hope that I do not have to be on the edge of death to experience it.”
Years later, I was there. I was in an emotional dungeon. I felt like I was on the edge of losing everything that mattered the most to me. There, in my solitary darkness, I finally let go. I let go of all of the things that I had been trying to control to keep my world “safe.” In letting go, I found freedom.
“The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Psalm 118:6
God instructs people (sometimes one person, sometimes a group, always us) 365 times in the Bible not to fear. Why the repetition? Because we forget. Because we want to be safe and comfortable. Because everything that we fear CONTROLS US. It drives our decisions. It shapes our environments. It fills our thoughts, our hearts, and our conversations. It drains our resources. We essentially become slaves to our fears.
What do you fear? What keeps you awake at night? What makes your heart race? What sends you running until you collapse, your physical, emotional, mental, and financial resources exhausted? What do you hold so tightly that your fists are white and your nails are digging into the heals of your hands? Stop running. Stop gripping. Stop trying to fix, protect, control, and shape. Place it all in the hands of Jesus. When you stop struggling against the chains that your fear created, He will lift them off of you and replace them with His arms. And there, in His love, you will find freedom that no human effort can provide or take away.
Words Lived 