Safe but Imprisoned
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)
We are free men, women and children and I am grateful for that. Yet there are moments when I feel imprisoned by my own thoughts. I don’t easily break free and then I ponder things like: How’d I get there in the first place? Why do I tend to isolate when facing the walls of my self-made jail? Devon O’Day (All God’s Creatures) has written a good message that answers lots of questions.
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I have a little red hen that I raised from a tiny chick. I named her Mavis. As she came of age, the two rooster brothers began to chase her around the barnyard. She would run to me for protection from the brutal rooster boys, who were just following their male chicken nature.
I moved Mavis to my backyard and made her a soft bed of hay in a large dog kennel. She made herself at home and would hop on my shoulder as I sat out back at night. She would coo and cuddle in the morning when I went outside to enjoy my coffee.
She could always sense when the rooster boys had flown their coop and were making their way across the pasture toward her. She found hiding places all over the backyard to get away from them. Her favorite was a big, galvanized tub that leaned against the privacy fence. She would slip under that and remain silent until the roosters left the yard.
One day I came home to find her gone. She did not come running to me when I called. I was immediately heartbroken. Then I remembered her galvanized tub. When she’d gone under it to hide, somehow the tub had fallen from its position against the fence to trap her underneath. There she had spent the day, safe but imprisoned. She ran around the yard in jubilant freedom when I released her.
I have sought safety by withdrawing from life only to realize that my definition was just another word for a prison for my spirit. He made me to be bold and free. God has abundant life waiting for all of us, and all we have to do is walk in the power and light He instills is us—His own.
Dear God, help me avoid seeking shelter and safety in places that entrap and ensnare me. You are my refuge and my hiding place, and only in Your arms, am I safe. AMEN.