Rescued and Set Free
Not gonna lie, my faith life has been pretty stagnant lately. It's probably due to a lot of things, but mostly I've just been lazy and not prioritizing correctly. Unsurprisingly, it feels like my life has been a huge crap show over the last month or so. It hasn't really, but I have felt totally out of control...almost as though I'm drowning and can't seem to get up for enough air. I've felt trapped.
There are so many ways to describe what Jesus has done for us and what being a Christian defines us as. These analogies and descriptions can be more impactful depending on the person hearing them and what is going on in their life. Lately, the idea of "rescue" and being "set free" have been speaking to me. The whole idea of capture and rescue and bondage and freedom have become somewhat romanticized in culture. For example, so often in shows, books, and movies, a woman may get kidnapped or trapped in some way and the man comes to her rescue and sets her free. Cue the passionate kiss, etc. Even the games played by children like Cops and Robbers, Steal the Bacon, or Freeze Tag have the same concept. Rapunzel wasn't trapped in a tower forever, Cinderella got rescued from her step-monsters, and Sleeping Beauty was freed from a curse. There is an exhilaration in being freed. I remember in school being stuck in jail during a game in PE waiting for someone to come save me, or for the teacher to announce a jail break. How wonderful a feeling it was to be let out, especially when someone from my team came to save me specifically!
While we are not at all likely to be stuck in a curse or trapped in a tower, we are all shackled with things that hold us captive. It might be crippling anxiety or depression, financial stresses, bad relationships, or even just our own minds. More than anything, our sin weighs us down. Ultimately, that's the one thing we can't free ourselves from. Thank God the ending to our story is a good one; our Rescuer has already come.
Jordan and I have been really invested in watching "The Vampire Diaries" lately (a guilty pleasure, I know), and boy is there a lot of capture and rescue that happens in that show. It's kind of odd that a show about vampires would lead my thoughts to how I have let things in my life swallow me up and take me captive. But God didn't leave me there. He didn't forget about me. Once I realized that I couldn't do anything about it on my own, He swooped in and saved me. He always does.
The real chain breaker happened on the cross and won the war for good. But until Jesus comes again, we can still be prisoners of battles we face in life. We still become slaves to our sin. But Jesus, He is always there to rescue us. He is the ultimate jail break, the one on our team who will always come for us.
Here are a few songs that have been hitting my heart lately:
"Rescue Story" by Zach Williams- https://youtu.be/9Yr48Berkqc
"Who You Say I Am" by Hillsong Worship- https://youtu.be/lKw6uqtGFfo
"Rescuer" by Rend Collective- https://youtu.be/sAg7rn7fH3Q
There are so many ways to describe what Jesus has done for us and what being a Christian defines us as. These analogies and descriptions can be more impactful depending on the person hearing them and what is going on in their life. Lately, the idea of "rescue" and being "set free" have been speaking to me. The whole idea of capture and rescue and bondage and freedom have become somewhat romanticized in culture. For example, so often in shows, books, and movies, a woman may get kidnapped or trapped in some way and the man comes to her rescue and sets her free. Cue the passionate kiss, etc. Even the games played by children like Cops and Robbers, Steal the Bacon, or Freeze Tag have the same concept. Rapunzel wasn't trapped in a tower forever, Cinderella got rescued from her step-monsters, and Sleeping Beauty was freed from a curse. There is an exhilaration in being freed. I remember in school being stuck in jail during a game in PE waiting for someone to come save me, or for the teacher to announce a jail break. How wonderful a feeling it was to be let out, especially when someone from my team came to save me specifically!
While we are not at all likely to be stuck in a curse or trapped in a tower, we are all shackled with things that hold us captive. It might be crippling anxiety or depression, financial stresses, bad relationships, or even just our own minds. More than anything, our sin weighs us down. Ultimately, that's the one thing we can't free ourselves from. Thank God the ending to our story is a good one; our Rescuer has already come.
Jordan and I have been really invested in watching "The Vampire Diaries" lately (a guilty pleasure, I know), and boy is there a lot of capture and rescue that happens in that show. It's kind of odd that a show about vampires would lead my thoughts to how I have let things in my life swallow me up and take me captive. But God didn't leave me there. He didn't forget about me. Once I realized that I couldn't do anything about it on my own, He swooped in and saved me. He always does.
The real chain breaker happened on the cross and won the war for good. But until Jesus comes again, we can still be prisoners of battles we face in life. We still become slaves to our sin. But Jesus, He is always there to rescue us. He is the ultimate jail break, the one on our team who will always come for us.
Here are a few songs that have been hitting my heart lately:
"Rescue Story" by Zach Williams- https://youtu.be/9Yr48Berkqc
"Who You Say I Am" by Hillsong Worship- https://youtu.be/lKw6uqtGFfo
"Rescuer" by Rend Collective- https://youtu.be/sAg7rn7fH3Q
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