{unchained} now.

On our own, we wear chains.

In middle class America, the chains that the majority of us wear are invisible. Unnoticable to the naked eye. To the casual “hello, how are you” eye, our chains can go unseen. 

Until we get closer. Lean in. Come a bit nearer. Then we see them.

Some chains take the form of the need to be perfect. The need to be accepted. Loved. Beheld by something or someone. The false ideal that everything could be “just right”. Without flaw. The problem with that is that we are all flawed. All broken. All fall short on our own.

Some chains were placed on us by others. Those in our lives who have been given a voice and who have used that voice, unfortunately, to limit us. They have spoken into our present that, because of who we are, because of who God made us to be, we cannot do this or that. They choose, for whatever reason, to define us. To limit us. 

Both have happened to me…and I bet to you, too.

I have felt the unattainable need to be perfect. To have no regrets. Unblemished. Unwrinkled. Except…you and I…we are human. Flawed from the start. And so the chains of the desire to be perfect? Hmm. Those heavy chains are not given to us by God. By the God who sees our flaws and hears our complaints and Who knows that the goals we sometimes seek do not reflect Him. He is perfect. We aren't. We can live unchained because of His sacrifice, His plan, for us. His heart toward us is filled with love, not with limitation.

I have been told in the past that because I am a woman, I cannot do this or that. I can go this far…but no further. Painful, yes. Devastating, yes. Soul-igniting, oh yes. You see, I believe the God who called you and I to this or that will not be defined. And so why should His child, clothed in Him, be? Why should His reflection…be defined as limited? Why would gender or race or social status or anything else limit giftedness? The truth? It doesn’t. I believe God will not be defined...and so those chains? Those definitions that others have tried to impose on you? The ones you’ve listened to and given weight to? Those hurtful words that prevent you from seeing straight for a time? Dear friend, those words do not define you. If God has given you a gift, use it. However. Wherever. On street corners as you look a homeless man in the eye and in the checkout line as you greet an exhausted cashier. Those chains don’t fit you. His heart toward you and toward me is filled with love, not with limitation.

God speaks of His process of unchaining throughout His Word. From Genesis to Revelation, He speaks of freedom and hope and transformation. Of His gracious ways and His equipping of us to reflect His love into this flawed world. We are here to make a difference. It’s hard to make a difference when we’re wearing man-made chains, isn’t it? 

Think of the woman in Luke 13. I love this story. She is chained by illness, by a back that just won’t work. This woman, undoubtedly looked down on for so many reasons by the people she is surrounded by, is called forward in the church meeting by Jesus. The Son of God calls her. A woman, afflicted and chained, is unchained in the sight of God and everyone by His Son. He heals her. He has plans for her. I wish we knew the rest of her story. He had something He needed her to do, and He called her out from the back of the room, prepared her in front of everyone, and sent her off.

And so you. And me. What have we been called to? What is limiting us? What chains have we put on that God never intended for us to wear? What chains have we allowed others to shackle us with? Pray it through. Quiet room, knees on the hardwood or face in the carpet. Talk to the Jesus…the One who called the woman out of the binding shadows in Luke 13…and see if He won’t help you live unchained. Today.

Blessings,
Deni

 He was teaching in one of the meeting places on the Sabbath. 

There was a woman present, so twisted and bent over with arthritis 

that she couldn’t even look up. 
She had been afflicted with this for eighteen years. 

When Jesus saw her, he called her over. 

“Woman, you’re free!” 

He laid hands on her and suddenly she was standing straight and tall, 

giving glory to God.                        

~Luke 13:10-13 The Message