Last year I went through a very difficult period of depression, anxiety, and some other issues. I didn’t think I would recover from it. However, with the help of a counselor, medicine, and a renewed reliance on God, I came out of this dark time in my life. My recovery was not as linear as I’d expected though. I thought I would simply wake up one day and feel free, but instead, the change occurred more gradually.
I read something that struck me as very profound: “The Israelites didn’t just have to get out of Egypt — they had to get Egypt out of them.” Bondage had become a habit, and even though I knew the Lord had set me free, I was still tempted to fall back into old patterns and old ways of thinking. In the words of Atlanta pastor Louie Giglio, “Most Goliaths don’t fall with one stone.”
But I knew two things for certain. I knew I had called on the Lord in my distress, and I knew He had answered me, just as He promised. After He set me free, life wasn’t easy — it was a daily struggle to choose freedom over my past bondage tendencies. But over time, freedom became a habit just as the bondage had once been. “Egypt” was finally on its way out of my system.
Have faith in the Lord to set you free, but recognize that freedom will require work on your part, too. Let the freedom of the Lord take hold of your heart.
Lord, thank you for setting me free, as you promised. Help me have the strength to choose freedom even though it might seem easier to slide back into old habits. Amen.
Go Deeper — Are you still chained to some old habits? Write them down and then ask God to help you choose freedom each time the temptation to shackle yourself to the past surfaces.
Photo Credit: Julian Friedle