Setting captives free

I have an exciting story I wanted to share with y’all about how my dear friend Claire and rock climbing brought me to a place of complete freedom in a way that only God can do!

It was the most beautiful day for a hike here in Colorado and we decided we were going to go up the Rock in Castle Rock. Once we hiked to the base of the rock we decided to try and make it to the very top, which required some rock-climbing skills. Now neither one of us are huge rock climbers, by any means, and I have very little confidence in the area of rock climbing.  However, we thought it would be fun to try and see if we could make it to the top. We tried a couple of different routes, and they didn’t really work, so we tried one last one and it seemed to be promising. I was a little hesitant about it because I’m not much for heights and I’m always worse at getting back down than going up. And let’s be honest here, I was afraid to fall. But my sweet friend went before me and made sure the path was safe and tried all the different angles to climb and picked the best one and safest one, to go up. Then after she would go up ahead of me, she would stop, plant herself firmly on the rock and reach back down to grab my hand, or offer her assistance to help me get up to where she was. Then she would say, if she can do it, then I can do it. She believed in me. She encouraged me and helped me push through my fear and enjoy the freedom waiting right on the other side. Which in this case was the most spectacular view of the mountains and of the city below us. What I realized was so reassuring for me, was to know her hand was there to help me if I needed it. Like I didn’t need to do it in my own. She gave me confidence, when I would look up at her and climb towards her. Then once she got me up with her, she would turn back around and navigate her way through the next section, all the way up the rock. But at one point when I was looking where to put my foot, I glanced down below me and realized just how high up we really were. The fear began to creep back in. The fear of falling or the fear of getting hurt. Fear, fear, fear! I thought in my head, oh my goodness we need to turn back, this is too much. But there she was up above me, hand outreached looking to help me. After I took her hand, she was able to help me where I couldn’t help myself and pulled me to the top. Once we got to the top the view was unimaginable.

We sat up top where it was just beautiful out. The sky was so vibrantly blue with a few white clouds scattered around and a light breeze blowing in our hair. It was so neat because we were above the bird’s level, and they were flying around us and it was like we could watch them play together in the sky. They were flying around us and near us and even got close to our heads a couple of times. It was like a fairy tale of sorts. It was magnificent! Then if you looked out further you could see the mountains in the distance were just gorgeous and the green valleys all around us were breathtaking. I realized what I was experiencing up here on top of the world was the feeling of being set free. And man did I love the feeling of being free! I was still a little scared, but felt free.

I discovered that, the feeling of freedom I was feeling was actually the freedom of being held back by fear. I did something I don’t usually do. I climbed to the top of the rock… and it was fun! I didn’t need to be scared. There were times when we needed to be smart, but I realized there is a difference between being scared, and not doing something out of fear, or not doing something because it’s unsafe. This experience taught me that sometimes they feel similar, but if you have someone who you trust and they help show you that it’s not to fear, then it turns into freedom. And what a glorious feeling it is to live in complete freedom. Especially freedom of fear!

I realized that what Claire did for me, is exactly what God does for us. He goes before us and makes sure the path is clear and safe. He doesn’t remove the challenges, but he makes sure we are safe. Then He turns back around and reaches towards us and says, okay if I can do it, you can do it. Now it’s your turn to try! Then He reaches His hand out and in case you need it, it’s there. He then continues to encourage you all the while, as you are taking each diligent step towards the new freedom, He has for you on the other side. He encourages you to keep your eyes on Him and to look up at Him for your next step. He shows you the best path to take so that we don’t fall. The problem is we have to keep our eyes on Him. We have to keep our focus on Him. Otherwise we look below us and realize how high up we are and the fear begins to fill us up again and we become immobilized. When in reality, we are so close to the breakthrough that God has for each of us. It doesn’t have to be all at once, but God asks us to gradually take bigger and bigger steps of faith, each one taking you higher and higher into your promised land. The problem is, if all we see is our fear, or the height that we are at begins to overtake us, and we lose focus on the one and only thing that matters, then our perspective turns from breakthrough and freedom back into chains and fear. It’s just like Peter. Jesus called him to come walk out on the water with Him. Right there in itself was a miracle when Peter was able to stand above the water, but what happened when Peter looked down? What happened when he began to lose his focus on Jesus? What happened when he lost his balance and he looked away from Jesus? I’ll tell you what happened… He started to sink. You see when we keep our eyes on Jesus, He becomes our freedom. He becomes our strength. He becomes our power. But when we look down or get off balance and begin to look elsewhere, we allow ourselves to be filled with fear, negativity and bondage all over again.

Our ability to overcome fear has a lot more to do with the fact that God has faith in us to do it. He already has faith in us to do what He is calling us to do and to overcome every obstacle in our way. God has not given us a spirit of fear, that is not how He created us. It just so happens that we live in a fallen world where bad stuff happens to good people and we get hurt, betrayed and misused. We can’t control those things in this world. We will have trouble, but the promise lays in the truth of who God is. God is bigger than all of those things that we come up against in this world. We also must remember that He has already defeated them all. When Jesus died for our sins on that cross and arose three days later, He took every hurt and betrayal with Him. He defeated death and defeated the enemy who comes against us. So ya, we will face troubles in this life, but the most important thing is that none of those things will overtake you if you remain in God and focused on God! He says that the weapons may be formed against us, but they will NOT prosper. They will not defeat you. You wanna know the reason why? Because our God is bigger and mightier and more powerful than our enemy.

So, when we feel full of fear, hurt, betrayal, anger or hatred we need to run to the one and only person who can handle those burdens and take them from us. God wants us to be set free from bondage, and especially set free from fear! Fear is a tactic from the enemy and God isn’t about it. We have to remember to walk in that same faith that God already has in each of us. The faith that we can and we will overcome anything in our way, because we walk with the almighty God! Just like my friend Claire who had complete faith in me. Her faith in me helped me overcome the fear that was holding me back in bondage. Now, imagine the kind of faith God has in you and the adventures He has waiting for you just on the other side of fear!

With love,

Kaley