Hope

The Cost of Freedom

blog_rockingchairShe was finally free, but she refused to forget those still in chains. While she could have lived in relative safety, she chose to risk her life to rescue those bound as she once was. Harriet Tubman knew the danger she would face in returning to the place of her own bondage for the sake of those enslaved. Yet she considered their lives and valued their freedom more highly than her own.

Had I lived the nightmare she lived, I wonder if I’d so willingly return. It would be so easy to slip into obscurity, to hide in the shelter of freedom—forgetting those who suffered I once had. The prospect of losing my newfound freedom might overshadow the potential freedom of others.

What would motivate a former slave to risk life and freedom for the sake of others? This woman who endured such unthinkable hardships came through the furnace of affliction with great faith. She once said, “Twant me, ’twas the Lord. I always told him, ‘I trust to you. I don’t know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,’ and He always did.”

The same God who led her is the God who had heard the cry of the slaves in the days of the Exodus, who upon seeing the oppression of a people in chains spoke these words: “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them…” (Exodus 3:7-8)

True love sees the needs of those in chains. And true love hears their cries. But it doesn’t stop there. True love is compassionate. And true love rescues.

Slavery is said to have been abolished years ago, but it continues today. Thousands are trafficked and sold across our own borders. We have a choice. Will we close our eyes to the need? Will we ignore the cry? Or will we see, hear, and act in compassion? Because only true love can set a captive free.

True Love…FREES (from This Life and Beyond’s series #50ShadesOfTrueLove)

 

Photo Credit: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway | Bucktown Village… | Flickr

Choosing Chains

blog_shackleschainsandfettersA life in chains is unimaginable from the vantage point of freedom. Nothing could be more horrific than to be taken by force from the life, land, and family you love. Even more inconceivable is that anyone would willingly choose a life in chains.

When faced with opposition to their desired mission among the enslaved of their time, Johann Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann asserted their willingness to become slaves themselves. If reaching slaves meant a life in chains, they would choose such a life. Their declaration? “We shall become slaves among the slaves.” The men were eventually granted passage as free men, yet still they chose to live humbly in a land of slavery to proclaim the gospel of freedom to those in bondage.

As I consider their selflessness, I have to ask myself if I’d willingly do the same. Does my love for others run deep enough that I would sacrifice my comfort and security for their freedom? These men got on a boat and traveled far to fulfill their calling. But we don’t need to get on a boat to find people in need of help, hope, love, and freedom. And we don’t have to travel far to be selfless.

As Mother Teresa once said, “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.” There are people among us who live in chains. Modern slavery is rampant in our own country. The enslaved reside in our own cities. Still, beyond that, there are people who live as slaves to fear, abuse, addiction, neglect, and more. How can we sacrifice, here and now, for the enslaved in our midst?

While the sacrifice of the Moravian missionaries was heroic beyond measure, we can follow their example of selflessness to free those in bondage right here, right now. We don’t have to wear literal chains to be enslaved to a cause. Our daily, selfless sacrifice can do more for the cause of freedom than we can ever imagine.
 
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” (Luke 4:18-19)

True Love…is SELFLESS (from thislifeandbeyond’s series #50ShadesOfTrueLove)

Every Voice

blog_prisonbars

No matter how small, no matter how average—every voice that rises in outcry against the injustice of modern slavery is one more voice in the battle for freedom.

 

Photo Credit: Prison Bars | Uploaded with Flickup on iPad | Bob Jagendorf | Flickr

A New Season

blog_snowysunrise

Today is the day of salvation, this moment is the moment for renewal and change. We don’t have to wait another second, another minute…another year. This is the time for new beginnings—a new season, a new day.

 

Photo Credit: A brilliant sunrise over a very cold, snow covered Crystal… | Flickr

Scarlet and Snow

blog_christmaslightssnow“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

Photo Credit:File:Christmas lights strung on snow-covered fence.JPG – Wikimedia …

Unmelting Hope

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As much as I love the atmosphere of snow during this season, I’ve learned it’s not any more necessary than gifts or decorations. A snowless Christmas can’t take away the symbolism. It can’t erase the story of a baby born to die for our sins. So let it snow, or let it…not snow. I will be grateful for the hope that can thaw the coldest of hearts…a hope that will never melt away.

 

Photo Credit: Christmas Ornament | Free Stock Photo | A red Christmas ornament …

Where are You, God?

Blog_SnowyWinterNightwhere are you, God
in the midst of the darkness?
we’re crying to you
in this desolate land

war rages around us
we’re searching for answers
to things
we can never understand

where are you, God
do you see our tears falling?
do you hear our prayers
and feel our pain?

the world is in anguish
our children are dying
the clouds of refreshing
withhold their rain

where are you God?
we’re hurting and hopeless
wounded and broken
and in distress

our own neighbors killing
destroying, devouring
can You bring forth beauty
from our hateful mess?

God, you came down
from light into darkness
born in the shadows
of earth’s darkest night

the forces of evil
releasing their fury
swords bent on destruction
consuming all life

you spoke to the madness
with love and compassion
to ears fallen deaf
in a world filled with strife

brought healing, redemption
though you were rejected
crushed by our hate
while releasing your light

and now you are here
in the midst of our suffering
calling to us
“don’t settle for this”

we’re made for much more
than what we’ve accepted
and this world is not
all that there is

so though earth give way
and mountains shall crumble
and all that we’ve trusted
one day will fail

the curtain’s been torn
between light and darkness
and in the end, light
will always prevail

(originally posted on the Nightlight Blog)