Freedom

Isn't it amazing how God intertwines and pieces together parts of your life? Pieces that don’t seem to ‘fit’ in the natural, but as your watch life unfold you can’t help but smile at the graciousness and love of an All Knowing Savior.

17 years ago I set foot on Philippine soil for the very first time. Little did I know that moment would forever alter my life. Exactly one year ago I was finally able to return to the country that stole a piece of my heart all those years ago. That trip opened up my heart to the millions of orphaned, abandoned, abused children living in unimaginable conditions daily. Volunteering in a rescue and rehabilitation center for orphaned, abused, neglected children called Gentle Hands broke my heart and stirred something in me. Just seven weeks ago we were able to return to the mission field, this time to India for the ground work stages of Gentle Hands, India. Although we knew we were called to India, we didn’t quite understand the magnitude of why we were being called there. As we drove through the streets of Mumbai, India we turned into the darkest darkness I have ever experienced. Here in the largest red light district in the world known as ‘the cages’, a stirring began in my soul. An understanding of why we were there. Tears filled my eyes as I watched girls the same age as my 12 year old daughter forced into a life of trafficking. Their faces empty, lost, terrified, broken. “Give them a voice” came a whisper. Looking into the faces of these girls there came a revelation. The lost bondage that they were in was written all over their tear stained dirty faces.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the broken hearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed”. Isaiah 61:1 (NLT)

In that moment I gasped as my face became tear stained. These young girls are forced into their ‘prison’, but how many of us put ourselves there? How many of us live our lives locked away in prisons of addiction, pain, anger, disappointment, hurt? How many of us know we are locked away there? How many of know that we hold the key? The words are clear, “the captives WILL be released and the prisoners WILL be freed”. Today, if you feel that you are drowning in a sea of unforgiveness, an oceans depth of pain, the Word of God says that you WILL be freed!

“It is for FREEDOM that Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 (NIV)

“Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV)

“But the one who keeps looking into God’s perfect Law and does not forget it will do what it says and be happy as he does it. God’s Word makes men free.” James 1:25 (NLT)

How do you live and walk in Freedom?

1. Be firm

2. Be in the Spirit

3. Be in the Word

Freedom is painful, it’s hard work, it’s ugly, it’s messy… but freedom in Jesus is worth it EVERY TIME. What does it look like? It is on the face of every girl rescued from unimaginable horror within the walls of an Indian Brothel, it is the weightlessness on the shoulders of the teenager who recognized the lies spoken to him from the enemy and chooses to hear the voice of the Savior, it is on the lips of the young mom who knows that sleepless nights, runny noses and dirty shirts are all part of the calling of Christ in her life and she can rest in that. And, it is in your heart as you read in the Word over and over again that you are ONE, but so was Paul, and Timothy, and David, and Rahab, and Esther, and John and JESUS, and THEY changed the world and set the prisoners free.

No matter which side of ‘the cages’ you are on, we should be continuously seeking freedom. For us, for them.

Two different countries. Two different missions. The same deep need. Millions of women and children sold into trafficking. My role? Give them a name, a face, a hope, a future. Millions of orphaned children. Where do I start? I start with one. I go. If I can’t go, I send. I bring light into the darkest places. I bring the love of Jesus to a dark and dying world who need to know that there is a Savior who has created them, purposed them, died for them and loves them right where they are… in this moment… and He sees them. ...And so do I…

Tara W.