Shake off fear
There is a fascinating story of how we are to appropriate freedom. The Acts of the Apostles (12:6-8) tells us the following story
The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. ‘Quick, get up!’ he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Peter has to wake up, get up, and then the chains fell off.
We have to wake up to the fear that holds us bound as God nudges, prompts or strikes us. The group Big Daddy Weave wrote the following lyrics
Seems like all I could see was the struggle
Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past
Bound up in shackles of all my failures
Wondering how long is this gonna last
Then You look at this prisoner and say to me “son
Stop fighting a fight it’s already been won”
I am redeemed, You set me free
So I’ll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain, now I’m not who I used to be
I am redeemed, I’m redeemed
Wake up, get up and shake off the chains of fear and invite someone today to take a closer look at Christ and his church