I refuse to believe we were created for bondage. We were not placed on this earth to be enslaved to never-ending moral decay. We were planted here by a loving gardener who desires for us to grow and flourish and have life that is truly life.
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My 4-year-old son was horror-struck when he discovered the inner workings of a bee trap he found hanging from a tree near the school. “They…NEVER…come out? You mean, they’re trapped? How could ANYONE ever DO that to a BEE? That is SO MEAN!” he cried. The prospect of painful bee stings for him or his playground friends could not convince him a bee trap was a valid preventative tool. Those bees were tricked into a situation from which they could not escape. And that, to his precious little mind, was unforgivable.
We’ve all, at times, felt trapped in circumstances from which there seemed no escape. Maybe a habit looms large over our lives, a giant threatening to ensnare more deeply with every step we take. Or maybe temptation seeks to steal control of our minds, luring us away from solid ground. Or maybe something beyond our control has swept in and taken over our lives, entangling us in oppression.
We celebrate freedom every year, but it seems so far beyond our reach. Recent news headlines are evidence enough that the land of the free is a place of bondage in so many ways. In a land where slavery was supposedly abolished, we live as slaves to the consequences of our own choices and others’ actions.
Where is the freedom we claim to possess?
I refuse to believe we were created for bondage. We were not placed on this earth to be enslaved to never-ending moral decay. We were planted here by a loving gardener who desires for us to grow and flourish and have life that is truly life.
The Bible says that we have an enemy who is a life-stealer: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” But there is a Savior who is a life-giver: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Freedom comes not in doing whatever we so desire, for we can never be free from the consequences of our decisions. Freedom comes in knowing whose we are and why we’re here, and in living to fulfill the GOOD things our Creator has planned for us.
In my own life, I’ve witnessed hardened criminals become model citizens—all because they were touched by the freeing power of a life-transforming Savior. I’ve seen hopeless drug addicts released from their addictions. Violent gang members turned gentle and kind. If our Savior can do miracles in what seems the most impossible of circumstances, how much more in our own lives?
It is written that, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” He understands our daily battle with temptation, and yet, because he has overcome, he is able to help us to overcome.
Maybe your own struggle has led you to think life is not worth living. But know this: you can be free. In Jesus, there is freedom. And because you can be free, there is more than enough reason to live.
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
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“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
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If we’re not prepared for the battles that come, we will falter when they do. But if we’re in it for the fight, we’ll endure through the fight.
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Maybe we come to the point where we don’t have the fight in us to make it through one more act. What we don’t realize is this crucial truth of life: It IS a fight. Anything worth living for is worth fighting for, and will take fighting for.
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It was my son’s first time at a play. When the curtain closed after the opening scene, he whispered, “Is it over yet?” I smiled and gently explained that there were many scenes to come before the end. He endured the remaining acts with impressive restraint for a four-year-old, though on the way home he broke down in tears. I thought it was because he’d bumped his head on the theater railing after the play, but instead he cried with greater drama than any of the actors combined, “That play was so long! It was super, super long. It was tooooo long.”
Sometimes in life, the curtain falls too soon. We’re in the midst of a trying circumstance or we’ve made some huge mistake, and we presume it’s over. Not realizing we’re on scene one of a multi-act play, we succumb to despair, thinking there’s no opportunity to redeem the mess we’re in.
Other times, it seems we’re trapped in a never-ending drama. Scene after scene unfolds and we find ourselves asking, “Will it EVER be over? How much more can I possibly endure?” We don’t realize the author has built one scene upon the other to grow his characters until the great and final outcome.
I’ve been thinking on this theme of 13 Reasons to Live for a few weeks now, considering what brings us to the point of despondency and what can bring us out. Wondering how we come to the point of wanting to give up and thinking upon all the reasons we shouldn’t.
Maybe we come to the point where we don’t have the fight in us to make it through one more act. What we don’t realize is this crucial truth of life: It IS a fight. Anything worth living for is worth fighting for, and will take fighting for.
I’m not talking about war in the way of battles and weapons. I’m talking about the day-to-day fight that must be fought for anything that’s good and worthy and true. It’s a spiritual battle, and often emotional, sometimes physical in the way that it drains our reserves and our resolve. If we’re not prepared for the battles that come, we will falter when they do. But if we’re in it for the fight, we’ll endure through the fight.
And what carries us through the daily warzone? The knowledge that we’re in the midst of redemption’s story, in which the Author of all life is the Author of our lives, working every scene together for good.
We may think it’s over, but in His hands, it’s not over until He says so. Only the Author can determine the end.
Or maybe we think it’s endless. But there will come a time when the battles of our days will cease. We’ll see that it was worth the fight, and it was worth our living and enduring. Because no Author starts a good work without bringing it to completion.
“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
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“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)
This Life & Beyond 
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