The other day Tracy and I noticed a white lizard in our bathroom. Tracy tried for several minutes to catch it so that we could take it outside, but it was very hard to catch and ended up getting underneath the bathroom cabinet at which point Tracy gave up. For several days we didn't see the lizard, so I kind of forgot about it until yesterday when he made his appearance again this time behind my laundry basket of clean clothes that I hadn't put away yet. Aha! I thought. This time I will get him and put him outside before he dies. So I tried to catch him using a fly swatter because it's usually easy to get it underneath the lizard and then carry him outside. No matter what I did to try and coax him onto the fly swatter, he would have none of it. So I went and got a cup and thought I could use the fly swatter to push him into the cup. I chased that stinking lizard all over my bedroom for a good half an hour before he got behind the TV stand. It really made me mad. All I could think was I'm trying to help you, you stupid lizard! I'm not the bad guy. If you keep running from me, you'll die!
So last night I told Tracy about seeing the lizard again and we both lamented that I will probably find a dead lizard sooner or later. Then it kind of hit me. We are so like the dumb lizard. You see that lizard really wanted his freedom, but he just couldn't see that I was trying to give him real freedom by releasing him outside. His freedom will only lead to death.
"There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 14:12
We imitate the same struggle because we run from God so afraid that He will take away our freedom, our individuality even. The truth is that in God we actually find true freedom. It's a paradox that in finally being captured, being a slave even, we find liberty. However crazy that sounds this kind of reasoning is consistent with God. He likes to do the unexpected.
"And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32
Many people think that being a Christian is about following a bunch of rules concerning what we are and aren't allowed to do. Yes, God sets perimeters for our safety, but this isn't what defines our faith. For the first time ever, as believers, we are released from the standard of culture that defines us and we are even released from our own flesh that is never, ever satisfied. When those incessant voices finally stop in the presence of God, we can hear like we've never heard before, see like we've never seen before, and think like we've never thought before. We suddenly see the world from another perspective and we begin to understand our role in this big, big world in which we are not the center. That truth brings freedom on a scale that we can't imagine.
And I believe that like most things God gives us this freedom one step at a time. As we walk with Him He continually works in us to give us freedom from our flesh and world. Sometimes it really hurts. Sometimes it makes us uncomfortable. Sometimes we cannot see how in the world this can end up for good and we have to just trust. But when we do trust, we eventually see how God is transforming us from glory to glory.
"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18
Looking back over my life, I can see how I've gained freedom in areas of my life mainly from struggling. I have a good friend with whom I regularly discuss this. When we are confronted with a trying experience that really targets one of our weaknesses (like fear), we comfort one another by repeating the truth, "This is for freedom's sake." I have to ask myself: Am I willing to let God do what is necessary to bring me there? What about you?
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