Set Free

"Let those who fear the LORD say,
   'His steadfast love endures forever.'

  Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
   the LORD answered me and set me free.
The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.
   What can man do to me?
The LORD is on my side as my helper;
   I shall look in triumph on those who hate me."

Psalm 118:4-7





 Artificial diamonds can be made by subjecting graphite to intense temperatures and pressures along the lines of 1700 degrees Celsius and 60,000-100,000 atmospheres.  This is equivalent to about 700 times the amount of pressure exerted on the Earth's crust by Mt. Everest.*  It takes a lot of pressure to create a diamond, but they are considered to be one of the most beautiful of gems.

My life is filled with stress and in fact, pressure is a part of modern life.  If I consider the time constraints, financial limitations, health restrictions placed on my life, coupled with the relational difficulties found in loving people and just my general exposure to an evil, dark world, I have a formula for stress.

The pressures of my world will not go away, but I have a secret weapon at my disposal to keep stress from controlling my life, sending me into a frenzy and ruining my health.

Call=Answer

Humans have been under stress ever since the fall of man, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sin entered His perfect creation.  As a result, I am now hard pressed on every side, just like that piece of graphite in the process of becoming a diamond. 

But I am not without hope.  When I call on God, He will answer me.  God told his people who were exiled to Babylon, living as foreigners in a strange land and under tremendous pressure that, "you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you." (Jeremiah 29:12-14a)

When the stress if overwhelming and I cry out to the Lord, He answers. 

Set Free

When God answers me, it is not with mere words of consolation.  He goes even further and sets me free from the bondage of worry, grief, anger, or any other stress that is threatening to break me.  I am not bound to these stresses!

Jesus came to His creation in order to set me free from the bondage of sin.  The stresses generated by an imperfect world threaten to rule me.  But Jesus said, ". . . if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36)

It makes me think of a giant trash compactor.  I am trapped inside as the walls close in on every side with no hope of escape.  Then, I call upon the name of the Lord, and He sets me in an open space, free from the constraining walls.

I can live as if I'm in that open space, free from the stresses of this world, not because there is no stress, but because He is greater than the stress.  I can trust Him to save me from the great pressure upon me, but I have to call on Him.

When He answers me, He sets me free.  Will I trust Him?

His Presence=No Fear

Trusting God means acknowledging that His presence and power in my life are greater than all the things I have to fear.  Death?  He's overcome it.  Failure?  He looks at my heart, not my production value.  Loneliness?  He will never leave me or forsake me.  Loss?  My life and everything in it belongs to Jesus, it's not mine to lose.

Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed in his first inaugural address of 1933 to a nation plunged into the depths of a Depression that, ". . the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."**  He may have had a point.  Fear can be my greatest enemy, driving me to perform desperate, foolish acts, sending me into a state of panic where my decisions are frenzied and without reason, and taking a toll on my physical health. 

It has been said that fear is the absence of faith. And without faith, it is impossible to please God!  When I give in to fear, I am sending the message that not only do I not believe God can save me, but I don't even believe He exists!  If I truly accept as true that He exists, then I must recognize that He is bigger than anything I can face. 

If I trust God, I will not fear.

Stress is a part of life that cannot be avoided.  But as a follower of Jesus, it does not have to rule me.  I can call on the Lord and He will answer me.  When He answers, He sets me free from the sin that pressures me.  And in His presence, I have nothing to fear.

As I begin this day, it is my prayer that I can live my life as one who has been set free.

How am I living as a slave to fear?

Where am I not trusting God for deliverance?

*http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1998/IleneWeintraub.shtml

**http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/

photo from   salsolastock.deviantart.com