Be Free!

5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.-Galatians 5:1

 The temptation to be bitter about my cerebral palsy is with me everyday, but I don’t give in because I’m free in Christ. He has freed me from self-pity,my sin,and the since of entitlement. My plan for my life would call for easy living far from any hard times. But God plan for our lives calls us to trust him when the circumstances seem to much to handle. In the toughest times of our lives we learn to lean on God. There is great freedom in this. There are days when I’m sick of dealing with my cp but its in God’s strength that I find the freedom to press on. Being a Christian does not mean that Jesus will take away all our troubles, but he promised to walk with us in those troubles. One day I woke up and I was crying so bad. Robin was  still sleeping. I was just not able to build up the courage to face the day. Things at work were on my mind, and I was hating my cp. The only thing I knew to do was run to scripture. God’s word is such a source of healing for his children. Here is what I read:

5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we  have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith  into this grace in which we stand, and we  rejoice  in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.- Romans 5:1-5

My circumstances did not change, but my focus did. After dwelling on these words my heart shifted from my circumstances to the hope of God. God is using my life to bring him glory and in the times of suffering, he’s shaping me into the man he’s calling me to be. And the more I dwell on scripture the Holy Spirit can remind me of God’s love easier because I have my heart ready to hear what he has to say. We need to be so lost in the Word of God that when we are in the pit, suffering will not be our master but a tool that God uses to bring us near to himself. When life is hard we feel like giving up and sin looks appealing. We will do anything to take our minds off of our circumstances. Run to God. Focus on the promises that our in Christ found in the Bible. For when you focus on Christ, you will find true freedom. God bless.