Break the Chains of Doom
Some sat in darkness, in utter
darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains.
– Psalm 107:10
But if people are bound in chains, held
fast by cords of affliction, he tells them what they have done – that they have
sinned arrogantly. – Job 36:8-9
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in
darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.
–
Luke 1:78-79
He is a most negative person. I’ve stopped inquiring
about how he’s doing. Honestly, I don’t want to hear it. Do you understand what
I’m saying? Do you have someone like that in your life?
It’s not that I don’t care. I do. It’s just that his
total lack of hope, his inability to see anything good in his world, directly
contrasts with the faith he claims lives in his heart. That bothers me. It
really does.
He’s a good person. And, yes, he’s had stuff happen
that has been hard. But he’s also had a lot of good too. Sometimes I think he
misses that because his focus is on the bad.
Aren’t we much the same? We obsess over what’s gone
wrong and brush off all that’s gone right. We hang on to mistakes and problems
and hurt long after we should have given them to God and moved on.
We can’t count our blessings because we’re too busy
looking at all that’s missing. We focus on what we can’t change, what we can’t
fix, and miss what we can control. Like our attitude.
Satan loves to bind us in chains of despair. He loves
to tell us again and again how awful our lives are, how others have wronged us,
how futile our attempts to change can be. Satan wants to steal our hope.
But he can’t. Not unless we let him. Because Jesus is
our hope. Jesus came to pay for all the wrongs we’ve committed and make us right
with God. Jesus sent His Spirit to guide us. Jesus walks with us every step of
every day.
We are not only to live in the light, we are to be the
light. How can we do that when all we see is darkness? How can we show others
Jesus when we can’t see Him ourselves?
This man is quick to tell others about the wonders of
this beautiful world. But when it comes to his own life? Well, he doesn’t see
anything good in it. I see his beautiful wife. Yes, she suffers from an illness
but she is sweet and kind. I see the son who has made wrong choices but I also
see the son who is excelling at the college of his dreams. I see the nice
house, the good job, the fishing trips and other good things in his life. He
sees the lack. I see the abundance.
That’s something else that’s true in our own lives.
You don’t think so? Are you lustful for the new car your neighbor got? Do you
want to remodel your kitchen like your co-worker? Do you long for the latest
gadget, the promotion, the dream vacation someone else just took?
It’s great to have dreams but not when those dreams of
tomorrow keep us from enjoying the blessings of today. Jesus came to break the
chains of doom and set us free to live in His light. Why can’t we see that? Why
can’t we live our lives basking in the light of His love? We can. If we will.
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