A Biblical Definition of Freedom

The Oxford Dictionary is wrong. It defines freedom as “the right to act, speak, or think as one wants.” But think about those words for a moment. Those words do not define freedom. Those words define selfishness.

All one has to do to recognize this etymological error is glance at the current condition of our world.  Senseless mass shootings…because someone feels like it. Children as victims of war…because one man desires to conquer a country. Me. My. Mine. Atrocities justified by “the right to act, speak, or think as one wants.”

In the United States, we would be quick to recognize those actions as infringing on other’s rights so we wouldn’t possibly defend those acts of violence in the name of freedom. Yet every day, albeit in miniscule manners, people trample on the rights of others or at least the dignity of others, using “freedom” as the justification. Ranting about the stupidity of another person—created in God’s image. Criticizing what someone else believes—without ever trying to dialogue about it.

Don’t get me wrong. I fully support freedom of speech, but I refuse to rationalize rudeness or treating another as “less than” because of philosophical or even theological differences.

Perhaps the solution can be found in applying an alternate meaning for the word freedom. A definition developed nearly 2,000 years ago in an environment similar to today’s—an era filled with political unrest, economic instability, and cultural uprisings. A definition penned by the Apostle Paul, found in Galatians 5:13:

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13 NLT).

Look at that. The Apostle Paul says freedom is not about what I want; rather, freedom is serving one another. Revolutionary.

Sometimes, when I’m trying to decide what a word “means” (finding the connotation as opposed to denotation—as in this case), I think about the opposite of the word. For example, the opposite of freedom is slavery. Slavery means I have to do something because I’m controlled by someone else. In other words, if I feel I “have to” rant about something because “I can’t help it,” that’s not freedom. That’s slavery. Scriptural freedom means you have nothing to prove—because your freedom is true and eternal. You don’t have to fight to “defend” it because the war is won. Instead, you can use your freedom to serve others, and by serving others, hopefully, they will want what you have. Freedom, not as the world knows, but freedom through Christ. 

After the fireworks have fizzled and the flags have been put away, let’s remember what true freedom is: serving one another. It’s not about doing what I want; it’s about not having to do what I want because I’m free.

I’d love to hear what you think. What’s your definition of freedom? Will you share?

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When God Doesn't "Answer" Your Prayer...

Have you ever been disappointed by God? You prayed for something and God didn’t answer your prayer? It was a noble prayer, a good prayer—for healing, for direction, for help. You had it all figured out. If God answered your prayer, you would live happily ever after, and God would get all the glory.

But the answer never came, and you felt confused and frustrated. You wondered, “Does God really answer prayer?”

Yes, He does, but God always answers prayer in a way that gives Him the most glory and us the most benefit. Even if we don’t see it at the time.

Sometimes, we’re so certain God should answer a prayer a certain way, when He does provide the answer unexpectedly, we don’t even see it because we’re looking elsewhere.

If God doesn’t answer our prayer by changing a circumstance, we need to know He has a purpose for it.  When my daughter went blind nearly ten years ago, I thought the only possible answer to my prayer would be a miraculous healing. But that answer never came. Instead, God used Amberle’s disability and her passion for marginalized people groups to create The Banquet Network, a non-profit organization that helped dozens of churches develop thriving disability ministries. He chose to use the circumstance for an eternal purpose rather than a temporary one.

Philippians 4: 6-7 exhorts believers to “pray about everything.” And we should. That includes praying about circumstances, but it also includes praying past them—for how God might use the hard situations in our lives to make us more like Him. To learn to trust Him day by day.

When it looks like your prayer isn’t answered, remember, God doesn’t allow one thing to happen to that He can’t use for His glory and our benefit as long as we cooperate. If God brings you to it, He’ll bring you through it. If your prayer isn’t being answered today, perhaps God has more than an answer for you. Perhaps he has Himself.

Now, it’s your turn to “hang out naked.” . What circumstance are you praying for? How can you pray past that circumstance for something more?

The Trapeze of Trust

As a kid, I loved going to the circus. I marveled at the daring performers in their death-defying acts. Walking out of the arena carrying a glow-in-the-dark toy I’d convinced my grandpa to buy for me, I’d wonder, Which performer do I want to be?  Sometimes it was a rope dancer; sometimes, the lady in charge of the poodle act, but more often than not, it was the high-flying, sequin-studded female trapeze artist. The reason for my choice was obvious. It was the costume. Bedecked in jewels and beads and oozing with confidence, the lady seemed invincible. She always had two or three impossibly muscular men catching her as she flew weightlessly through mid-air, and she never missed a beat. It was like a miracle happening right before my eyes. How did she do that?

I read once that the secret to a successful trapeze performance is the flyer. When she’s in the air between the trapeze bars, if she grabs for the person who is supposed to catch her, she will fall. The trick is for the flyer to simply hold her arms up and allow herself to be caught. This requires complete trust.

While I’ve never tried my talent on the flying trapeze (Full disclosure: I’m a little scared of heights), I can see a strong application in my land-laden life and my ability (or inability) to trust God.

One of the only things we can be sure of in life is change. Change is scary because it means letting go of what’s known and heading towards the unknown. A new job, a new home, a new church. It’s like being in mid-air, between two trapezes. But that’s where trust happens. Between the bars. Mid-air. As long as we keep holding on to the old, we will never move ahead to the new. The hardest part for me, however, in any sort of “mid-air” transition is not trying to be in control. Just keeping my arms up, trusting God to catch me. He’s the One who knows what he’s doing, who knows where I need to be—not me. I just have to let him catch me.

Many people equate trust with predicatability. Or certainty. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. Trust means you don’tknow…otherwise, it’s not trust. Our God is trustworthy, and we need to learn to be more like the high flyer on the trapeze—letting go of the old and trusting God to catch us exactly where we need to be with the new.

I’m trying to learn how to trust God in this scary journey of writing. Why is it scary? Because, as I explained in one of my first blogs, I’m “hangin’ out there naked,” for all to see. To disapprove of my writing. To not read it. But this is where God has caught me, so this is where I am. I’m sure I’ll have to fly through the air a few more times in life, whether it’s in my writing journey or in some other aspect of life. And hopefully, with practice, I’ll get better with not knowing and just trusting.

What about you? Will you share in this dia-blog? How are you trying to trust God? I’d love to know, and I’d love to pray for you.

Hope Is a Choice

The last few weeks have been tough. On all of us. Looking at the news and the atrocities in the world, it would be easy to lose hope.

But we must not.

Hope is critical to life. In fact, it’s been scientifically proven!

Back in the 1950’s, Curt Richter, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University, performed a study now known as the “Drowning Rats” experiment. Richter placed several dozen rats in a bucket of water. They all drowned after only a few minutes. He repeated the experiment with another group of rats, but this time, right before the rats drowned, he picked them out of the water for a moment, dried them off, and then put them back in. The result? The rats that were momentarily rescued swam approximately 240 times longer than those who were not. The reason, Richter hypothesized, was that the second group of rats had hope.

Hmmm. If having hope can make that much difference in the life of a rat, imagine what it can do for us!

According to the Oxford English Dictionary hope is “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” It’s not some wishy-washy, pie-in the sky, unsubstantiated longing. Hope is a logical decision, usually based on some sort of possibility. In other words, hope is a choice. Your choice.

I find that really interesting, especially in light of 1 Corinthians 13.

This celebrated chapter closes with the well-known words, “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV). 

Faith, hope, and love—three great virtues of the Christian life.

Think about those words for a moment and what each one means for the believer. Love is a command (John 13:34). Faith is a fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). But hope is a choice.

Do you ever have problems choosing hope? I’ve had challenges, but what ultimately got me through was the idea that I could either continue in the circumstance with hope or without hope. The choice I made wasn’t necessarily going to change the situation, but it could change me. I couldn’t control the circumstance, but I could control my response. So, I chose hope. What about you? What is it that threatens your hope and how do you make the choice to stay in hope? Share your words of wisdom.