Stepping Out in RED Shoes!
- Day 59 -
I'm a Deliverer!
I set people free. I lay hands on them and call upon the Name of the LORD! I proclaim freedom over those who are bound... expecting God to deliver them! What about you? What do you do?
"The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free." Luke 4:18The other day, I attended a "Meet and Greet" with a variety of business colleagues whose roles all center around helping those who have life-controlling issues, find freedom. Alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, pornography, fear and unforgiveness are just some of the things that people find themselves entangled in, with no visible way out. They are prisoners.
a "prisoner" is someone who has been captured and kept confined by an enemy.
In my book, The Yellow Brick Road: A Woman's Journey to the Edge and Back, just as Dorothy set out to find her way home, I write about trying to find my way back to normalcy after a devastating divorce. Dorothy sought out the Wizard of Oz, while I, on the other hand, looked desperately for a professional Christian counselor. No doubt, there can be great benefits from good counseling.
My mom loves to knit! She's been making beautiful home-made socks for decades. She recently told me that she can knit a pair of socks in less than a day. As a child, I remember times when my mom would pull out a big mass of wool and hand it to my dad. Snarled and entangled, it was useless. He would sit in his chair, patiently pick out the knots -- unwind here, untwist there -- and after quite some time... Woolah! he would have it all untangled and rolled up into a ball, ready to be used. It was almost a miracle!
Sometimes people's lives get like that --
"all knotted up!"
As I walked around the reception hall talking to psychiatrists, nurse-practitioners, counselors and administrators, I was amazed to find such a plethora of perspectives and approaches to rehabilitation. Every once in a while I'm reminded that not everyone thinks the way I do. And well... my perspective is not always the right one or the only one. With that in mind, I tried to listen and hear what people had to say as opposed to preaching my own thoughts.
In regards to drug addiction, one of the things that's being pushed to the front in the secular world is the idea that addicts are a part of every community -- they'll never be completely free -- and that we should just allow them to be who they are in a way that's less destructive and costly to the rest of society.
For example, some places provide addicts with clean hypodermic needles to help prevent the spread of aids. In Canada, you can now purchase a "clean" crack pipe in vending machines for 25 cents. In some states you can walk into a Pot Shop and legally purchase a bag of marijuana. If you're a heroin addict, there are methadone clinics that will wean you off heroin, and provide you with a daily dose of other drugs to hold you over from one day to the next. Oh... you'll still be addicted, but it won't be to heroin, it will be to methadone.
Of course I have a real problem with that mentality -- BUT I listened all the same. I will say this: They had some interesting points and perspectives. As far as I'm concerned, however, there's just one problem...
I'm a Deliverer!
I'm not called to be an enabler. I'm not called to do what would save the state money. I'm not called to make people comfortable in their prison cell. I'm called to set people free! I'm called to rip down the strongholds of darkness! I'm called to proclaim freedom over those that are bound! I'm called to unlock doors, take people by the hand, and walk them out to freedom.
That's what God does -- and He lives in me! We work together in Divine Partnership with one another. He's the Leader. -- I'm the follower. I'm here to support His initiatives.
We used to sing an old chorus...
"He set me free. He set me free.
He broke the bonds of prison for me.
I'm glory bound, my Jesus to see.
Glory to God! He set me free!"
People can do whatever they want to do. I'm not here to tell them how to do their job. I've got enough on my mind with my own job. But don't expect me to change tracks. I can't do it!
I'm a Deliverer!
The One in me says...
"We're going this way,
not that way!"
Make no mistake... When I step out in RED shoes, I am an ambassador for Christ! That's just the way that it is.
Gail
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