I’ve just finished the first month of my race.
Wow. God’s been teaching me a lot lately. This month was our “all squad month,” which meant that our entire squad of close to 60 people was together working with the same ministry. We spent the month in the northeast corner of India in the state of Manipur, where we had the opportunity to work alongside such an amazing and fruitful ministry who blessed us beyond what any of us could have asked for.
All squad month has been a lot of things for me. It’s been fun, exciting, new, frustrating, draining, joyful and full all at the same time. Ministry was a little all over the place and looked like a lot of different things this month. Some days were spent helping the nurses out and praying over the patients at the hospital down the street. Other days we traveled to local villages where we were hosting medical camps; we would pray over the patients and play with the children to give their parents a much needed break. Some days we worked alongside the local people doing “construction” work, which mostly consisted of moving large piles of dirt from one place to another.
Just before we left for India, God revealed something to me. He revealed to me that though freedom is a gift freely given to us by God, it’s also a choice—and it’s something we have to choose to walk in every day.
All throughout the gospels, we read about Jesus’ miraculous healings. While we were in Atlanta my team and I were talking about one of these healings when something hit me. Matthew 9 talks about a paralytic who was brought to Jesus to receive healing: “And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.’” At that, the man got up, picked up his mat, and went home—glorifying the Lord all the way home.
But what would have happened if this man had chosen to remain on his mat? What if he had chosen to go on living in his brokenness. What if he had decided that this mat was all he knew, and maybe it was easier just to stay there.
Yes, he was healed. But he still had to choose to get up and walk.
And what if he hadn’t had faith? Each time we get up and walk, we do so with the faith that our legs are going to carry us. We don’t have to think about it; we just do it. But without faith, this man would not have been willing to get up off of his mat and take those first steps—though healed and fully capable, his doubt would make him unwilling to take the chance. It wouldn’t have mattered if Jesus had healed him if he didn’t trust that he was fully healed. So without faith, he’d remain stagnant and no one would ever know that Jesus had healed him. He’d go on living his life just as before, enslaved to his body and his soul though fully capable of walking in complete freedom.
Also note that this man didn’t have to do anything to gain his freedom. He simply had to come to Jesus just as he was, with the faith that Jesus was who He said He was.
I’m still learning what it looks like to walk in the complete freedom that Jesus has freely given me. Here are a few of the things I’ve learned about walking in freedom this month while in India:
Freedom is is walking in full obedience with the Lord.
Freedom is seizing the opportunities He places in front of you, even when it’s not really what you were expecting. It’s choosing to be content with rolling up tiny cotton balls for hours on end when you didn’t think that was what ministry would look like, and choosing to see the bigger picture; because if rolling up cotton balls is going to give those nurses a break and make them feel loved by us, then that’s what we’re going to do—and we’re going to do it with glad hearts!
Freedom is intentionally reaching out to someone even when it’s way outside of your comfort zone, and not taking it to heart if it doesn’t go just as you’d hoped it would.
Freedom is throwing your hands in the air and dancing alongside your brothers and sisters with all your might, shouting praises to your God and not caring who sees you looking like a fool.
Freedom is choosing to embrace the rain, even when you’re so over being muddy and wet.
Freedom is recognizing when you need to slow down, and knowing that’s OK.
Freedom is vulnerability. It’s standing up in front of all of your squadmates and leaders and telling them you’re afraid to love, because the pain of rejection and loss is far too great and sometimes it’s easier to just not feel anything at all.
It’s being content with less than perfect earthly pleasures because your hope is in the Lord, and this icy cold bucket shower won’t last forever.
It’s choosing to laugh about how you and your teammates lay awake all night long swatting at the mosquitos buzzing in your ears.
It’s singing what’s on your heart no matter what it sounds like.
It’s striving each and every day to see yourself the way God sees you—lovingly through eyes of grace.
This is freedom; and it’s right here for anyone who wants it.
What bondage are you living in right now? You don’t have to keep living in that bondage. You can be free right now—all you have to do is choose to get up and walk.
