UnstuckSample

Show Them How to Be Free

We are sons and daughters of the King; we’re royalty because of our Father. I like to remind people of this in my preaching because it calls us upward in our thinking. However, just as important is that we are to be like our example, Jesus, who did not come to be served but to serve and to pour out His life for many. We are to pour out our lives like a drink offering, to follow in His footsteps as servants. What better way to serve others than to show them how to be free? Perhaps you’ve experienced something like this—you feel down, depressed, and are focused on something negative going on in your life. Then, someone calls or messages you with a problem, and instantly, you shift gears to try to encourage this friend or loved one.

I’ve seen moms, especially, turn on a dime and go from crying to cheerful, all because their kids were hurting or in trouble and needed their moms’ support. In an instant, the depression is gone, replaced by the desire to encourage another. Ephesians 6:8 (TPT) tells us to “be assured that anything [we] do that is beautiful and excellent will be repaid by our Lord.” In other words, if you do it for someone else, you don’t have to look to them to pay you back; God will repay you.

When you’re stuck, looking beyond yourself can be one of the hardest things to do. But, when you’re stuck, one of the most powerfully freeing things you can do is help others find their freedom! One of the best ways to get unstuck . . . is to help someone else get unstuck.

This is a principle that goes back to the Old Testament, and I like the example where Elijah prophesied a drought. At first, God took care of him divinely, sending him food. Eventually, even that provision dried up, and God sent the prophet to a poor widow. Elijah asked her for a drink. Remember, they were in a drought! Then, as she was going to get it, he asked if she’d bring him a bite of bread, too.

In 1 Kings 17:7-24, this widow told him that she didn’t have a single thing to eat in her house, only a little flour and oil left before she and her son would starve and die. And he wanted her to give him her last bite? This seems incredibly selfish, but here’s why it’s so important to be connected to the voice of God—this was the act that would set her free.

Elijah told her, “Don’t be afraid,” and go do what she had planned—but first give him a bite of bread (1 Kings 17:13, NKJV). Then, he gave her a word from the Lord: “For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth’” (1 Kings 17:14, NKJV).

Just imagine this situation, a staring contest between a destitute widow and a prophet of God. She had just told him her family was dying, and he asked her for bread. Perhaps, after looking at him a while, she finally decided, “What’s another day going to matter?”

Whatever her reasoning, she did it. She baked him some bread first, and when she was done, something amazing happened—there was still some oil and flour left. In fact, after they ate that day, there was still some left. And the next day, and the next day! The man of God stayed there in her home, blessing her family, for many days after, and the flour and oil never ran out!

You may feel stuck; you may feel empty. You may feel as though you have nothing at all to give. But if you’ll listen to the voice of God when He tells you to give, you may find that the very thing He is asking of you is the very thing that He wants to give to you. If the widow hadn’t made the bread, what would’ve happened? Perhaps Elijah would’ve gone on to bless another widow and her family. We’ll never know because she obeyed the voice of God.

What are you missing out on that God wants to give you? What freedom and blessing does He want to give another through you? Your time, attention, encouragement, passion, or comfort may be exactly what helps get someone else unstuck.

Let me lay it out for you again: you may wonder why God has allowed you to be stuck. Sometimes, His purpose is to show you His power by crushing your enemies so thoroughly that they can never harm you, or anyone else, again.

Is it possible, right now, that God wants to do a Red Sea moment in your life? When you think you’re stuck for no good reason, look for God working behind the scenes in your “winter” to prepare you for overwhelming victory!

Butchering an old expression, God could take the children of Israel out of Egypt, but He must also take the Egypt out of the children of Israel. That would not happen until forty years after their deliverance at the Red Sea. It took that long for the people to get free of Egypt’s influence, and those who could not be set free eventually died in the wilderness. It also set up our boy Joshua to lead them into the Promised Land because all those years later they were stuck again, outside the promise looking in.

The old has to pass away; leave it behind. It needs to die, and you can leave it in the wilderness because you’re stepping into something new. The new is a relationship with God. He wants to take you out of captivity, but He must also take the captivity out of you, and for that, helping others and leaving selfishness behind is the key to your freedom. Jesus outlines our responsibility to be a light in Matthew 5:14-16.

God didn’t create you to be stuck; He made you free! And when you’ve tasted that freedom, it is His hope—and mine—that you will want it for others. So, if you’ve been holding back, I urge you to break free, and act on every opportunity God gives you to be the light of the world!

Be strong and courageous, and step into the freedom that comes from being unstuck.

Hungry for more? Find out more about the Unstuck book, study guide, and instant-access digital masterclass at https://theartofleadership.com/unstuck.