The truth will set you free

God’s love inspires me again and again. For me, it is closely connected with the freedom I experience through it. The following verse comes to mind:

If the Son sets you free, then you will be really free. John 8:36

Expressed in this verse is the following: Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jesus has conquered sin and therefore Satan. And as soon as we believe and follow him, we are freed from all guilt and become daughters and sons of God. Jesus does not give us the freedom to do what we want, but the freedom to be close to God and to follow him. He created us and by being close to him we are well. I am not free where I sin and rebel against God and do not live in His love

When I serve God, submit to him and listen to him, I experience freedom.

This is a paradox, because who believes that freedom lies in submission and relationship? On the surface, this doesn’t make sense, but I don’t submit to just anyone, I submit to God, whose essence is love. This is exactly where freedom is found, to live what God has already put in me from the beginning. I need to trust that where he wants to go with me, I have the best life possible and that I am safe in God’s love!

For me, the sense of freedom is in knowing God’s love for me. He loves me even though he knows me through and through. I will even spend eternity with his love! I have begun to understand and grasp this love. Not only theoretically, because it says so in the Bible, but also with my heart. Knowing this makes me free inside.

But again and again there are situations where this certainty of God’s love somehow disappears from my sight.

At the beginning of this summer, I found out that my iron level (ferritin) had dropped to 13. That is extremely low, even for me. However, for many years I have been under the impression that I shouldn’t worry about this anymore because God was taking care of it. I haven’t had any iron infusions since, and I wanted to hold on to that and believe him. That went well for the last few years. But fear arose in me that with this level I would be too exhausted and irritable for our upcoming big journey. It preoccupied me more and more and the fear grew.

Then I realized what I was doing. I went to God with it in prayer and asked him: What do I need to know, what should I do? As a result, I had the impression that God was saying, “I’m with you, it’s okay!” To be able to really let go of this fear, I prayed, “Lord, I know that you are talking to me in a way that I can understand. If I need an iron infusion from the doctor, please tell me. And as long as you don’t, I will trust you that I don’t need it.” With that, I was actually able to let go of the fear! I had come to understand again that God is lovingly walking with me. Now we are back from our six week trip and I (and my husband) really enjoyed it!

This freedom is not a permanent state that I can reach at some point in my life, but a constant movement in this direction. This includes listening to God’s voice and impressions again and again and acting on what he says. God’s opinion about my problems and fears is important to me because he always has a solution ready. He is for me. The mighty God of the universe loves me and is with me. That’s how I find my way back to God’s love, can see my situation from his perspective, and can let him help me.

How are you doing? Do you understand that God loves you? Do you have confidence in God that he means well with you? Do you know that the safest place in your life is always where God is leading you? (If fear and worry are weighing you down, I suggest reading Psalm 103.) Let God show you how much he loves you by turning to him and spending time with his word!

Like the girl in the picture, despite certain reservations, you may climb up on the stool and do something you have never done before. Because you know that your life stands securely on the foundation of God’s love. Be courageous and determined! Trust God’s love! Because in this freedom you are alive!