am I free

I had aspirations of sleeping until at least 9:00 this morning - my cold had other ideas.  When I lay down I cough.  With laundry in and coffee by my side, I sit down to write.  To write about anything my heart desires, to write about what the Lord may lay on my heart, to write about what pleases me and what displeases me, this is freedom.

The definition of freedom is super interesting!

Freedom

the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

That is a powerful statement!  But then I kept reading and the definition seemed to be much more focused.

the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.

This made me realize that freedom can be huge or small.  Circumstantial or inclusive.  Defined based perhaps on each individual circumstance.

It challenged me to decide what freedom means to me - am I free?  

In light of recent government decisions I have been feeling 'less free'.  It's easy to believe we are on a landslide toward less and less individual freedom if you consider that important issues are being decided without taking a vote by the citizens or at least elected officials.

But I've also been feeling more drawn toward my Savior.  

So guess what?  Adversity always makes us look to the only one who offers true freedom - it doesn't take a genius to realize why He allows us to experience problems!

It's interesting how much we long to look to a fellow human being to change bad things, to save the world, to save America. Nothing, not even a single word, is happening outside of God's permission here in America today.  

As I think of brothers and sisters across the world suffering just because they love Jesus, I realize their physical definition of freedom would definitely be the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. Still, no power on earth can take away their complete belief in and reliance on Christ.

So the question I ask myself is, should I have the power to act, speak, or think as I want to without hindrance or restraint AND the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved?  Am I free?

I will never understand why I've been one of God's chosen to live in this amazing country, but I'm also learning to take it less and less for granted and that's a good thing.  They (whomever they are), always say "you don't know what you have until it's gone"...I pray for all of us - that we wake up and take advantage of our freedoms right away.  Share the beautiful Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone He gives you opportunity to do life with.  That's the freedom they're searching for and they don't realize all of these other 'feel good now things' are a complete waste of time and in the end destructive.

This is the time perhaps like never before in my life-time, to embrace the freedom we have and love those around us despite our differences and maybe we'll taste of a freedom beyond the dictionaries definitions.

I am free and I pray for safety across our amazing country today to express our thankfulness and to be together in our freedom!