itsawonderfilledlife

Have you ever seen a dog that spends it’s days tethered to a post or pole? It might be aggressive and mean or it might pace nervously, but it also might just lay there in acceptance of it’s confinement situation.

I am not so excited to see such an animal, tethered alone. Certainly we have tethered our beasts, but it was while working outside ourselves (we tend to pick out the beasts that are flight risks), so that they can be with us, rather than alone inside.

But tethered, alone … that seems a recipe for fear

There are animals that, having been tethered for much of their lives, when untethered, remain in the confines that they have been left in. It is as though their physical chains have converted into mental ones, staying tied up, even when they have been set free.

To experience real freedom is to move beyond the confinements, the chains of the past … to move freely, into new places.

Sometimes, as individuals (but even as larger communities) who have accepted the freedom given to us through the work and blood of Jesus, we, like a tethered dog, remain in our original place of confinement … even if that is only in our minds.

We sit at the gate that is opened up wide for us to walk through, yet our minds remain tethered to the stake of our past.

There is one thing can move one so tethered to the past … trust.

Trust in others around us, who wrap their arms around our shoulders and whisper, “you can do it, take the first step,” or the call of all that is in front of us … freedom in Christ.

Galatians 5:1 reminds us that “freedom is what we have–Christ has set us free! Stand, then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again.”

We need to keep reminding ourselves that God is trustworthy … now lift that head and run free.

“Fear can keep us tethered,
terror can clip our wings,
but trust eases pain.
Hope can lighten the sky.
Love makes us courageous.”

Call the Midwife