Enter 2012
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
~ John 8:32 ~
Several months before 2011 made its exit I felt a stirring in my spirit for 2012 and what it would bring. In a word—freedom. Freedom. I would name the then upcoming year freedom.
For what seemed an eternity I’d prayed for freedom in specific areas for my husband, my family and myself. In 2011 I saw this come to fruition in some areas that I hadn’t imagined possible or even necessary. To say the past year was difficult is an understatement. Yet the amazing, beautiful freedom that it brought was worth the struggle.
As last year and its seeming ever increasing struggles came to a close, I gained a new determination to press through and believe in 2012 for freedom. When my little sister shared with me that freedom was her theme for 2011 I knew God had great plans for us. So on I marched.
I couldn’t wait to begin to share at the start of the year what I believe God has in store for not only my family but Believers in general. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. Our Pastor’s words would remind me that “victory doesn’t come without a battle.”
Enter 2012.
We are nearly three weeks into the year the Mayans call our last and already I feel as though I’ve been thrown off course. The zeal of yesterday seems to be fizzling out and I look around and see an awful wretched mess. But maybe that’s not so bad. It’s in the mess that our message is found. It’s when we come to the end of ourselves that we are able to realize that it is all of Him and none of us. It’s Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts {Zechariah 4:6}.
Simple truth is that our freedom is in Christ. It was for freedom that Christ has set us free {Galatians 5:1}. It’s in the knowing and the believing. Yet the walking out isn’t always so easy. We tend to box up our answers and serve them up in what we believe is easy to swallow truth. We prepare to grab hold and run free.
And here’s the irony of it—the freedom that we long for is fenced in by boundaries.
When my grandson and the little boy I “Nanny”sit, Oliver, test the boundaries that I set in place for them daily, they end up in a time-out or the confines of a pack-in-play. If they only understood that their freedom lies in keeping those boundaries that I’ve set for them. It’s their nature to test those boundaries but the reality is that the consequences of crossing the lines lands them in a prison of sorts.
When I look back on the freedom found in 2011, I see clearly the keeping of boundaries—the confines of His Word as well as boundaries we’ve set in place in accordance with His Word. Knowing Truth and embracing Truth makes us free. Staying within the confines of Truth keeps us free.
Like the little toddlers under foot, I’ve kicked against the boundaries. I’ve been tempted to shift the ones He’s called me to set in place for my family. But freedom is worth giving up my way and even surrendering what others expect from me.
With reckless abandon I’m leaving the mess behind and running to Daddy God. And although it will come at a cost, I’ll embrace the boundaries He’s set before us as well as those He calls me to set in place. And I’ll find freedom that will be worth it all.
{Join me in running this race. Together, we can stay the course. But we need each other. It’s part of His plan.}
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