Some prisons have steel bars. Others have familiar routines.
Some chains are wrapped around the wrists. Others are wrapped around the mind.
Some people desperately want freedom, but they also want to remain comfortable. They pray for God to break their chains while continuing to protect the habits, relationships, excuses, and attitudes that keep those chains in place.
We want God to change our circumstances without changing our choices.
We want deliverance without discomfort.
We want freedom without surrender.
But God will not force us to walk through a door we insist on keeping closed.
The Israelites cried out for freedom while living as slaves in Egypt. God heard their cries. He confronted Pharaoh, broke Egypt’s power, parted the Red Sea, and led His people out. Yet it was not long before they started talking about going back.
They had escaped Egypt, but Egypt had not escaped them.
That is the uncomfortable truth behind this series. You can leave a place physically while still living there emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. The chains may be gone, but you can continue behaving like a prisoner.
Over the next six days, we are going to confront the captivity we have learned to tolerate. We are going to examine the cages we have decorated, the chains we have renamed, and the excuses we have protected.
This will not always feel comfortable. Freedom rarely does.
God may expose something you have defended for years. He may challenge a relationship, confront an attitude, or place His finger on a habit you keep excusing. When He does, do not turn away.
The purpose of conviction is not condemnation. God reveals what is holding you because He intends to release you from it.
The prison door is open.
The question is whether you are willing to walk out.