Freedom

Freedom is experienced when we hand everything to God. Let Him handle our burdens, cares, and worries. The Psalmist wrote:

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.  -Psalm 55.22

Several years ago I did not understand what that verse really meant. My legs and arms were tied together in my own worry and timidity. Once I learned how to let go, and I mean truly give each situation and worry to God, I felt what it meant to be free, and I am still learning everyday. The truth of God's promises had finally gotten through the wall of my resistant heart. And since I got a taste of that free air where all faith and trust lay with the Creator of the Universe rather than with a person who is bound to mess up, I never wanted to go back to the way I was.

I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.         -Lewis Carroll

Set loose the ties that bind you. My ties began to fall off as I learned to travel by myself. Traveling is an adventure, one that is (much of the time) out of your hands. You have to learn to go with the flow. Enjoy the journey, because God is going to make sure I get to my next destination safely. This freedom allowed me to pay attention in the way of observation and even conversation with strangers. I sit there and take notes in my journal on what I see around me. I make up stories in my head about the people I see. I see the kindness of strangers in busy places. A funny comment will reach my ears. Or, I am presented with an opportunity to help a stranger with directions or something else.

Once you are free from the burden that ties you down and clouds your sight, you quickly see how much you had missed before because you were shrouded in that cloud. Whatever that cloud is made of, it is a veil covering your joy.

They trespass, authors to themselves in all,
Both what they judge and what they choose; for so
I formed them free, and free they must remain...
Man falls, deceived
By the other first; man, therefore, shall find grace,
The other, none; in mercy and justice both,
Through Heaven and Earth, so shall my glory excel,
But mercy, first and last, shall brightest shine.
-Paradise Lost- Book III, John Milton