trapped...
I had the morning by myself, a few baby free hours, and I've come to appreciate those moments of silence and solitude. I love my busy body, chatter box baby, but she doesn't make shopping an easy task. Needing to mark off a few last minute gift items from my list that have been pending for weeks, I was determined to get it done today. I planned to have it all done before December even started, but that was wishful thinking. Christmas music filled the car as I sipped warm coffee, staring blankly ahead while mentally mapping out my shopping adventure. I finally notice the vehicle idling in front of mine. The white, barred window van. I didn't think much of it. White vans aren't a rare sight to see, but I noticed a silhouette moving in the back. It appeared that he was sitting to the side. I couldn't see his face, but I could tell he was looking around. The light turned green and as I passed the van, I read DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS printed on the driver's door.
I was haunted by the thought of this man being transported to prison. Here we were, both driving across town, but our destinations couldn't have been more different. He was imprisoned while I was free. I tried to think of what it would be like to sit in the back of that van peering out and watching people live their lives in freedom. To see the rest of the world continue on in their daily tasks of work, errands, and taking care of their family, while your day is spent in a cell. What it must be like to have shackled feet and hands. To have lost the ability to make any decisions but rather to be told what you will do. To wish you could be living in the joy and blessing of freedom but to be stuck in the darkness of prison. To be held captive. To be trapped.
And yet I realized that as alone as that man may have felt, he is in good company. Because that's exactly where many of us live. Trapped. We may not spend our days imprisoned in a physical jail but we're held prisoner none the less. Prisoner to sin, to addiction, to the approval of others. We are trapped by anxiety, envy, by trying to keep up appearances in a world that is constantly changing. We are trapped in brokenness, in disappointment, in the hurt that we just can't seem to heal from. We are imprisoned in failing bodies, wrapped in sinful flesh, with frail hearts and forgetful minds. Maybe it was a bad decision we made that got us here, or maybe it's a series of unfortunate circumstances that are out of our control. And so we feel stuck as we watch everyone else walk around in the joy and freedom of unburdened living. Or at least, that's what it seems.
But the joy of Christmas is that Christ came to set us free. Free from sin, from darkness, from hopelessness. Free from all of the things that weigh us down. From the shackles and the burdens that the world tries to place on us. On that silent night, when the cry of a baby pierced through the darkness, everything changed. He came so that we would have the ability not just to live, but to live unburdened. He didn't come so that our lives would be easy or free from trails and challenges but so that when those things happened, we could find help and hope. He untangled us, he freed us, and he brought us peace. Peace and joy. Victory, new life, and abundant life in Him.
"I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full." - John 10:10
I was haunted by the thought of this man being transported to prison. Here we were, both driving across town, but our destinations couldn't have been more different. He was imprisoned while I was free. I tried to think of what it would be like to sit in the back of that van peering out and watching people live their lives in freedom. To see the rest of the world continue on in their daily tasks of work, errands, and taking care of their family, while your day is spent in a cell. What it must be like to have shackled feet and hands. To have lost the ability to make any decisions but rather to be told what you will do. To wish you could be living in the joy and blessing of freedom but to be stuck in the darkness of prison. To be held captive. To be trapped.
And yet I realized that as alone as that man may have felt, he is in good company. Because that's exactly where many of us live. Trapped. We may not spend our days imprisoned in a physical jail but we're held prisoner none the less. Prisoner to sin, to addiction, to the approval of others. We are trapped by anxiety, envy, by trying to keep up appearances in a world that is constantly changing. We are trapped in brokenness, in disappointment, in the hurt that we just can't seem to heal from. We are imprisoned in failing bodies, wrapped in sinful flesh, with frail hearts and forgetful minds. Maybe it was a bad decision we made that got us here, or maybe it's a series of unfortunate circumstances that are out of our control. And so we feel stuck as we watch everyone else walk around in the joy and freedom of unburdened living. Or at least, that's what it seems.
But the joy of Christmas is that Christ came to set us free. Free from sin, from darkness, from hopelessness. Free from all of the things that weigh us down. From the shackles and the burdens that the world tries to place on us. On that silent night, when the cry of a baby pierced through the darkness, everything changed. He came so that we would have the ability not just to live, but to live unburdened. He didn't come so that our lives would be easy or free from trails and challenges but so that when those things happened, we could find help and hope. He untangled us, he freed us, and he brought us peace. Peace and joy. Victory, new life, and abundant life in Him.
"I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full." - John 10:10
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