Survivor, a Three-Day Devotional by Brian Johnson and Zach WilliamsSample

Day 3- Shaking the Shackles Off

Now all I can see are the fields of your grace
Wherever I run you’re leading the way
You shook the shackles off my feet
I found redemption on my knees
You gave me hope you gave me something to believe

Have you ever felt like your dreams have been shattered? Do you know the sting of rejection and the coldness of abandonment? Have you ever experienced the anguish of betrayal? It is painful when your dreams are broken like glass on the floor, and you are left confused, heartbroken, and filled with anger and resentment. Is it possible to survive the suffering and grow through it as a testimony of the power of God?

In the Bible, we have the familiar story of a man named Joseph. God had given him a dream for his life. Also, his father, Jacob, had given him a coat of many colors. The seventeen-year-old young man was blessed with a vision for his life and was valued by the expression of his father’s love (Genesis 37:2). However, one day after sharing his dream with his family, his brothers conspired against him. Would they kill him? This was the first thought. Instead, they threw him into a pit without water as they ate their lunch and discussed what they would do with him. About that time, a band of Midianites were passing through. The brothers decided to sell him into slavery and tried to erase his name from history. 

Joseph was betrayed, lied about, separated from the love of his earthly dad, and rejected by his brothers. Through all the pain and suffering, God did not abandon him. The Lord was with him and made all that he did prosper (Genesis 39:3). Although his brothers had one plan for Joseph, God had a bigger plan. Psalm 105:17-21 says, “He had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him. The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free; he made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions.” 

Joseph had to face great depths of pain as his dream seemed to be shattered, but the story is never over when God has the quill of your life in His hand. As Joseph served the Lord in prison, he was being prepared for the palace. The Lord can open your eyes to the fields of grace when all you have been seeing is a desert of revenge. He can shake the shackles of bitterness off your feet and allow you to run in the freedom of forgiveness. He alone can redeem every ounce of pain and enable you to worship in the midst of it saying to those who hurt you, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”