Let My People Go

God wants His people free. He sent ten plagues against Pharaoh commanding him to set His people free from Egyptian slavery (Exodus 8-12). Jesus, quoting from Isaiah, made it clear that He had come to "set at liberty those who are oppressed" (Lk 4:18).  Freedom from slavery is one thing.  Freedom from oppression is something else--something deeper and more holistic. Oppression can keep a free person from feeling free; and what good is freedom if one does not feel  free?  It's one thing to know  that you are free, and another to feel free.  What is it that causes us to feel oppressed rather than free?  Shame, guilt, inordinate desires, unfulfilled needs, feelings of inadequacy, fear, worry, chronic anger or frustration, self judgments of unworthiness, feeling victimized, etc.  A more pointed question might be: What makes you feel oppressed? What covers your soul like a cloud of darkness, blocking out the sunshine of freedom? Whatever it is, Jesus claims the power to deliver you from it. Unlike our salvation, which comes immediately and completely with faith in Jesus as the Christ/Messiah, this deliverance as well as other aspects of our sanctification (our spiritual growth) is a process. It is a process to learn to feel free.  It is a process of becoming mindful, on purpose, of what is oppressing us and then bringing it into the Light of Christ--His Love and Power.  Most of us have been oppressed by some of the dark aspects of this world for so long that we don't even know that we are oppressed. We have "learned helplessness" (which I encourage you to google). We have settled [without knowing it] for less than is available to us. But we can awaken into a keener awareness of our oppression if we simply pay attention on purpose to our soul--the inner core of our being; our deepest emotions; our "heart of hearts".  This is like bringing the light of awareness into the darkness of obscurity. It can be a painful process because it brings some subtle, suppressed pain into openness and clarity. We need Christ with us in this process. We need to trust Him deeply and explicitly.  "I am with you always" He said, "even to the end of the world." And He also said "I have overcome the world." And "All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me." {Matthew 28:18-20; John 16:33, 1John 5:4}. Jesus wants us to be sure that He has the power to deliver us from oppression. This power is His Love--the same power that created the universe {John 1:1-3; 1John 4:8}.  In God's unspeakable Love there is no oppression. This is the Love and Truth and Power that must penetrate, permeate and transform the inner core of our being. From this core, which is God/Christ in us, emanates life and light, driving away all the darkness of oppression. We still live in this fallen world and, like Jesus Himself, experience frustrations, anger and grief. But now, like Him also, we have a foundational core of love, peace and joy. We know beyond doubt that God is working all things together for our good, and that this universe is unfolding in the hands of a Creator who IS Love! The love that we feel for our children multiplied by the number of stars in the galaxies! We are safe in this Love. And we are free. And we can allow ourselves to feel free! Praise God!