Declaration of Independence

It is the Fourth of July Weekend as I write this. The phrase “Independence Day” is plastered just about everywhere. Yet as I think about the concept of “Freedom,” I must honestly admit how chained up I still feel at times.
There are too many days I wake up feeling like a dud among the diamonds. When I look at my reflection in the mirror, more often than not, I see more soot than sunshine, and I yearn for the words insecurity and inferiority to be erased from being written all over my face. How many of us know in our minds what we should believe, but something gets very lost in the translation as it attempts to cross the highway from the head to the heart?
I daily pray for God to give me opportunities to encourage others because I love to see the spirits of my family, my friends, and my flock lifted up and strengthened by sentences of love and life.
When the Bible declares that we have been fearfully and wonderfully made, I know undeniably that truth like this is a treasure that can’t stay buried by the shovels of dirt consisting mostly of the cheap lies that attempt to cover up the jewels of the riches from heaven that define who we really are.
I have no hesitation in believing the value and worth of what God says is genuinely real for every other human being alive on this planet. It is when it comes to personally applying the Lord’s wisdom to my life that my vehicle of confidence runs smack into the pitfalls and potholes of discouragement and doubt.
I hate to be hemmed in by prison bars especially when I know that Jesus holds the key, and he is longing to unlock the cell door and open it wide so it can lead both me and you to uninterrupted adventures with him.
Why can’t I trust what he says and not be so weighed down by what I see? Why can’t I rest in an environment built upon the solid foundation that God is good all the time and he does love me no matter what the circumstances communicate?
Why are we so susceptible to being duped by the daily deception that deals its death darts in ample supply? Why do we work so hard to portray and protect an image that amounts to not much more than us becoming a mannequin of shallow and superficial misconception?
We become addicted to social media where we subconsciously compare our real lives to other people’s carefully edited highlight reels where all the errors have been scripted out.
What will it take for us to realize that we can’t keep wasting minutes we don’t have while we wait endlessly for a season of perfection that will probably never come?
Are we running out of gas seeking to be energized by an audience that isn’t even paying attention? Is texting a true substitute for talking? Is quality time reduced to nothing more than simply sharing space in a room with nobody making eye contact never mind even desiring to do so? Help us, God, before we run out of chances to wake up and invest in what lasts before the last second on our clock strikes zero.
When was the last time you weren’t ruled by the clock? How many times have you been locked into a schedule that forces you to perform daily duties that you actually can’t stand?
Are you so busy attempting to get done with the things that you think you have to do that you are deaf, dumb and blind to the divine appointments that God longs for you to be a part of?
Is life eluding you because you are living the dream that has slowly transformed into a nightmare? Can you go a day without having to check your Facebook or see how many likes your last Instagram picture got?
The Lord is calling each one of us to link our lives to his leading rather than force his hand into our own agendas? How would life be different if we really were free to live outside our manmade modes of fascination? What if we let God redefine our definition of being rich? What if we chose to behave like citizens of heaven starting now and not waiting until after we die?
It was 240 years ago our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence. It started into motion what became the Land of the free and the Home of the Brave.
Over the years we have become a spoiled nation and a culture of entitlement. We have sat idly by as the political correctness of a cynical age has attempted to edit God from the fabric of very being, but it is time to make a demonstrative stand and say, “No more.”
Are you willing to make a promise to God in a humble act of dedicated dependence? Are you courageous enough to stop trying to live above your means and be content to celebrate what you have been given?
Can you be bold enough to live to give? Will you long to be known not for who you want to be or pretend to be but for who you really are? God, I want to kick anxiety to the curb and leave it homeless as I embrace an active faith that isn’t heartless but hopeful and determined to not let go when God is so willing to hold on to you and to me.
Will you finally trust the Lord in such a manner that makes a difference now?
Will you be honest with God in such the way that healing and wholeness can replace the worry and weariness that will bring absolutely no fruit to your dying tree?
Today is the day to promise God that from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, you will praise the name of the Lord and allow him to be lifted up high in all you say and do. Will you?