Chains!!!

I have a good friend Amber who is an amazing writer, encourager, and example. She is real and I love reading her blog for support and wisdom. She just wrote on her blog and it was so much of what I think every person needs to hear. I decided I would share what she wrote today. It is about the paralyzing chains we have on us everyday. Be blessed and encouraged!!!

Chains: Are You Paralyzed?

We all have chains.  They come in every size and shape, but at the end of the day they are there, holding us back from the full life God has for us.  Take a moment and picture it.  Imagine going through a full day with heavy chains clutching your arms, your legs, your waist… imagine dragging those shackles as you get out of bed, make breakfast, go to work or school, do the laundry, or pay the bills.  Everything is harder with chains, right?  It wouldn't take long before many of us would get angry and throw them off!  As a matter of fact, I doubt most of us would get through breakfast before tossing the heavy clanking metal aside so we could be free.

Unfortunately, many of us carry chains twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.  They are invisible, but their effect is still just as strong in our lives.  We are weighted down, slugging through the daily tasks of life, fighting this invisible force that keeps us from being the best that we can be.  How can we be happy if we are weighted down with chains?  The truth is that chains PARALYZE us.

So the question for today is this: What are your chains?  

What is the silent heaviness that you drag with you day by day?  Here is a look at some of the most common chains that we carry around…

1. The Chain of Financial Fear

Debt.  Past due bills.  The kids' college tuition.  The mortgage payment that just isn't in the bank account.  Student loans that just never seem to end.  Credit card debt that is more than we can afford to pay.  Financial chains can paralyze us in life.  We feel helpless to escape our situation and completely out of control.  Everything we do in life is hindered by the fear that financial ruin will cause us to crumble at a moment's notice.

2. The Chain of Physical Illness

Disability.  Cancer.  Heart Disease.  Migraines. Diabetes.  PCOS.  Infertility.  Fibromyalgia.  Arthritis.  Physical illness can make every little act in life feel like a heavy duty job.  We are weighted down, burdened, and feel beyond help when the doctors have no answers.

3. The Chain of Depression

Sadness.  Loneliness.  A dark cloud that just won't go away.  Depression casts a shadow over our lives and we drag it around like chains across our necks while it strangles the air we so desperately need to survive.

4. The Chain of Insecurity

What if I fail?  What if I'm not good enough?  What if I'm too much?  What if I said the wrong thing?  What if I did it all wrong?  Insecurity is a chain that forces us to stand still.  Again, we are paralyzed, unable to move as the enemy weights us down with the belief that we are never going to have what it takes.

5. The Chain of Doubt

What if God isn't real?  If He loves me, why doesn't He answer my prayers?  Where is God when I'm hurting so bad?!  Doubt is a heavy chain that can make even mundane tasks more difficult.  It is perhaps the hardest chain to shed because so often, we pick it up unintentionally and over time, we let it grow until we are so covered in it that we have no idea how to shake it off.

6. The Chain of Abuse

Beaten.  Scarred.  Molested.  Terrified.  Shamed.  When you have faced abuse in any form during your life, you automatically have a tangle of chains to deal with.  For those who faced abuse as small children or for many years, the chains have been there so long that we don't even recognize them anymore.  They are a part of our daily garments and often, we use them as a shield to keep others from coming too close to the hurt that is deep inside.

7. The Chain of Bitterness

That friend who turned away.  The child you lost.  The co-worker who lied.  The church member who betrayed your trust.  The spouse that cheated.  When bitterness sets in, it locks so tightly that we can't see past the hurt and anger.  Chains of bitterness effect every moment of our lives, even the moments that go unrecognized.

8. The Chain of Stuff

The 27 pairs of shoes stacked in the closet.  The clothes we haven't worn in years.  The books we keep but never read.  The untouched clutter in our closets.  The carload of stuff we brought home from Wal-Mart. It's not wrong to have stuff, but when stuff has you, the chains set in and suddenly you are paralyzed beneath it.  Many, many, many people carry the chains of stuff without having any idea that they are weighted down at all.

So that's a quick look at some of the common chains that we carry.  Tomorrow, we'll start delving into them in more detail and talk about how to shed the chains and find TRUE freedom in Christ.  If you are paralyzed in the chains tonight, allow yourself to catch a glimmer of hope.  The One who holds the key is just waiting for you to hand him the lock.

-Amber

P.S. Take a minute and listen to this song...