OK, OK, so it isn't Wednesday, but I am bound and determined to follow the schedule that upsidedownbee and I came up with for my blog, after all she is the princess.
“Freedom!” Every time I hear freedom shouted out, it conjures up the image of William Wallace running across a field yelling at the top of his lungs. Mel Gibson played Wallace in the movie Braveheart. He was fighting to loose the bondage of his fellow Scots from the oppression of England. Since I have come back from two trips to the Philippines, I have pondered over and over why I don’t see America as my mission field. In the Philippines I saw the opportunity of missions everywhere. I continually come back to this scene in Braveheart. “Freedom,” is the illusive nature of this beast, not to be open, honest, compassionate, and carried along by the Spirit to those lost ones around me.
Last year was the first, of hopefully many, “jaunts” to the Philippines. Landing in the airport, I immediately sensed, “I’m not in Kansas anymore”. Everyone looked the same, and they were jabbering away in a tongue that was not my own. You would have thought that I would have known this to be a part of my experience when coming to Manila, but it was astonishing all the same. For the most part they smiled at me, and I smiled back. They are some of the sweetest natured and friendly people I have ever met. That has begun a love affair with the Filipino people. This gave me the freedom to be who I was meant to be, and this suddenly became an attribute of my personality. Now, if you know me at all, this is not normally my demeanor. If anything, that has to be constantly over come. In most situations inferiority is my game, and I play it well. My children sensed it; my fellow “traveling buddies” sensed it. Anyone who knew me before sensed it. What has gotten into her? The Bible tells the story.
One of the first nights we were there (the Philippines) we made our way to a church fellowship. I immediately made my way to talk to the pastor’s wife. When I began speaking to her, I felt like I had known her all my life. We bonded, as they say. Expressing to her concerns that were also my concerns, we identified with each other despite the language barrier. My daughter Karen, trying to be sweet, told her she liked the bracelet that she was wearing. The woman took it off of her wrist and gave it to her to remind them of each other and to pray for her. Karen, in turn, gave her a bracelet also. Freely, this pastor’s wife, gave completely out of her poverty. She had two rooms in her home, no shower, a cinder block kitchen, and she loved God. How much do I give in that way? Do I freely trust God to the point of giving out of my poverty? I don’t think so!
Let’s get back to the topic at hand. Which that topic is quite uncomfortable! Matthew gives us a glimpse into this ole’ heart about why I don’t shout “Freedom” in America, and with that freedom share the Gospel readily. Thinking and meditating on this for two trips to the Philippines now, there are some conclusions I have come to. Jesus has just given His brilliant sermon on the Beatitudes and tells us line upon line, precept upon precept what the Christian life is supposed to look like. Here in the sixth chapter He elucidates it for us even more. In it holds the keys to freedom. He speaks of several religious and pious acts, none of which are to be done to the praise of men. Giving, fasting and praying are not to be governed by the freedom that we let men (people) give us. They are to be freely given knowing that our Father in Heaven is watching and is pleased. There is nothing wrong with looking for and pursuing the pleasure of God! How do we do that? By giving to people, praying for and fasting for people. That is the heart of God, people. Is it mine? In order to love what God loves we must prepare. We will abundantly overflow to the proportion that we spend time, meditating, reading etc...all the spiritual disciplines, but the aim is to be salt and light, as long as God gives us breath.
Matthew 6:
1"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven…… 5And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others…. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Proverbs 29:25 says that the fear of man proves a snare. Could this be one of the reasons that freedom is illusive? The definition of snare is; “to ensnare, to trap, and to lay a hidden trap.” The trap of thinking more about what people think and less of what the Father thinks. There are many layers to this trap. My relationship to people becomes all consuming, ending up doing the works for the praise of men, I end up bankrupt, empty, guilty and getting it all mixed in my mind.
Matthew 6 also leads to the second reason why there is little freedom. Jesus says you give to be seen, in other words, you are not giving sacrificially. Then beginning in verse 19 He speaks of our treasures. How many treasures in this life do I hold on to? There are the obvious ones; house, Lake House, finances, books (ouch)! How about the really more important treasures like family, children, parents, siblings, and other relationships? Could those also be keeping the freedom from my life? What if God were to call me to a foreign land? In verses 25ff are the famous verses on not worrying, and it culminates with the equally stunning verse Matthew 6:33. Seek first His kingdom making His priorities mine.
The freedoms that God gave me in the Philippines can be yours and mine here. Of course, I could never have known this without first going!
Freedom comes naturally to me overseas, because the comparisons are null and void. I can’t compare myself with the gorgeous Filipino women! The comparisons of houses, homes, furniture, dress, and lifestyles are non-existent. The atmosphere is one that made every thing I do a part of the Great Commission. I lived, ate, and breathed ministry. Everyone I met was someone made in God’s image and to be treated with respect, and need of a savior.
My cry for this coming year is, you guessed it, “Freedom.” May we all strive to be free from those snares that damage, destroy, and hold us, to a place where God cannot use us effectively.
I wrote this for a devotion booklet for a Missions conference. It truly was the cry of my heart. Freedom is what God has been developing in me, it is amazing. I don’t think I realized that until I re-read this devotion. Freedom from men, freedom from the constraints of time, the freedom from worrying about what will happen in the future. I can't say that I have mastered this at all, but God is answering my prayers from long ago. If God has me on the shelf for a while or just a long while, praise Him too. FREEDOM!!!!!!!!
Awaiting the true freedom.....Lynn
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