Embracing Freedom Unlocks Your IdentitySample

Day 4: “Able to hope again”

From joy-filled freedom springs hope. Be encouraged to make a courageous move to hope again.

The individuals we rescue have to make a decision once they have accepted the offer of freedom to take the step to hope again. This is the turning point for them and the turning point for us, too. This is where we start to unlock who we are called to be and embrace our God-given identity.

Tracy, rescued at 16 years old, shared after her rescue, “I was introduced to the Word of God. I learned the importance of my life…I began to feel the word of God get alive in me.”

Hope, also rescued at 16, said about her situation, “Before, I had given up hopes in life - that’s why I was so bitter. Now, I have come to realize that there are still hopes for me.”

If Hope and Tracy were going to live into their identity by embracing joy-filled freedom, they had to say yes to hope. Will you?

The Bible is full of individuals who had every chance to give up and stay where they were; stuck in their pain, decisions, or emotions, and wrestling with their identity in relation to how these dynamics defined them.

Consider David after his murderous affair with Bathsheba. He, after repentance, took a bold step to hope again and wrote Psalm 51, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.”

Paul, a persecutor and murderer, wrote concerning hope and freedom found in Christ, “Hope does not lead to disappointment”.

No situation is too bad or person too far gone that God can’t bring about new life (remember Ezekiel 37). Maybe the very act of hope looks like repentance, forgiveness (both giving and accepting), receiving God’s healing, and inviting God’s presence through community by trusting people around you again.

Both Paul and David had people around them speak into their lives during the restoration process (Paul had Ananias and Barnabas. David had the Prophet Nathan).

Onesimus is another example to explore in Scripture where we see a person who lived into their true identity because of freedom. He was once a slave who had run away from Philemon and eventually met the Apostle Paul, who introduced him to Christ. Once saved, Paul wrote to Philemon about Onesimus. In part of the letter we read, “He (Onesimus) has become useful both to you and me.” Paul goes on to describe Onesimus’ identity, not as a slave, but as a fellow man, a brother in the Lord!

Onesimus, rescued by Christ, dared to hope and embraced freedom by trusting Paul. He took the letter with him to Philemon and unlocked his identity; no longer a slave but a brother.

Prayer:

Father,

Help me to hope again. I choose hope over despair, pain, fear, guilt, and shame. I trust You to lead me forward into who You have created me to be: a daughter, a son, a child of God who is dearly loved. This is the identity You have given me.

Help me as I go about my day to embrace joy-filled freedom and to hope again. Help me to discover who You have created me to be and to live out of it. Would You also give me eyes to see those around me who may be struggling to hope again? Let me be able to share the hope that I have found in You!

In Jesus' name, Amen.