Life Guard: Unchained

Several years ago before we had children, my husband and I spent the weekend at Virginia Beach with another couple we knew well. It was hot, soooo hot, and the only relief I found was being in the water. I'm not a big fan of ocean swells, undertow, or critters, so generally -- if I'm at the beach, I find a shady spot and hang out on the sand, but that weekend, I swam a good bit. 

So, while we were there, I was jumping waves and tossing a ball with one of our friends in the shallow surf. We noticed that several people had gone out past the breakers and were swimming around on a sandbar farther out, but to get there, they had to cross a fairly extensive deep section over their heads. 

"Hey," my friend said, "Let's go out there." So we splashed out through the breakers and started swimming across the deep area. About midway to the sand bar... my friend started flailing in the water. His eyes widened as he panicked. "Help!" he gasped. "I've got a cramp!" 

I had a split second of indecision: Sand bar? Shore? We were midway. But the current would more easily push us back to the shore. He dipped below the water and came back up spluttering. I grabbed him around his back and hooked one hand beneath his arm (I'm sure there's a technically best way to do this, but I'm no lifeguard; I was winging it), and I started swimming as hard as I could back toward the shore. My friend swallowed sea water as he plunged under a few times, and he was coughing and spluttering and trying to stay above the surface, but the swells made it difficult. His weight and struggle nearly took me under a few times, too.

It felt like forever, but we finally got back to where we could touch again, and he dragged himself out of the ocean and sprawled onto the sand. He looked at me and said, "I think you saved my life."

I didn't feel like I had done anything of the sort. I'd floundered almost as much as he had, and had gulped several of my own mouthfuls of dirty ocean. I'd pictured the smooth, powerful swimming strokes I've seen lifeguards do as they cut through water, and I knew I'd looked nothing like that... but we'd somehow made it back to safety, because I wasn't about to let my friend struggle by himself. The shore was right there, and I was going to get him there at all costs, and he was going to be alive when he reached it, if I had anything to say about it.

So this morning, when I picked up my Bible, I was flipping through Psalms and Isaiah, reading portions of Scripture and praying, before I headed to Romans. And the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, so I'm going to share what He pointed out. I don't know if I'm even going to make it to Romans 8 today, but if I do, hey! Bonus! 

Isaiah 54:17-18 says: "'No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from Me,' declares the Lord."

And then, over in Acts 28 (I was still trying to get to Romans), I stopped on the very last verse in the book: "Boldly and without hindrance, [Paul] preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 28:31). Contextually, Paul is under house arrest. He lives in his own rented house, he entertains visitors, etc., but he's got a Roman guard living with him, and he's not allowed to leave that house, at least during that time period. So when I spied the phrase: Boldly and without hindrance... I had to stop and think. 

How did Paul consider himself without hindrance? The guy wasn't allowed to go anywhere. He was the proud owner of good ol' unbreakable, unescapable chains (see below verse). Did he have to carry around his chains? If he did, did he have to stare at them as he wrote his letters?

Because look at what he wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:8-9: "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my Gospel ('Gospel' means good news!), for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal."

And then... Paul tosses in the napalm, the one-liner that just explodes with power. Look at it! 

"But God's Word is NOT CHAINED!"

Here's what I do when I want to try to comprehend a statement, when the statement seems sooo big I can't even start to fathom it. Read it with my noted emphases:

BUT God's Word is not chained.
But GOD'S Word is not chained.
But God's WORD is not chained.
But God's Word IS NOT chained.
But God's Word is not CHAINED.

Wheeeeeeee-haw!!! Thank you, my Lord Jesus!

Paul wasn't relying on himself to get the message out there. God's Word is not chained! Whatever chains held Paul, God's Word transcends chains, goes beyond chains! It saves, it redeems, it justifies the hearts of sinners and gives eternal life. No chain made by man, not even chains brought against us by the enemy of our souls, Satan himself, can hold down him down! Jesus is God's Word (John 1:1), and He broke the chains of sin and death (Ephesians 1:19-20), and gave us freedom from those chains through the Spirit of life (Romans 8:1-2 -- see, I did get there, but just briefly), and all we have to do... is accept. that. gift!

Whew! That was fun. Thank you, Holy Spirit!

Okay, so even though I'd love to leave this post with that awesome victorious moment... I can't. I need to confess something. It's a raw and honest frustration. Y'all have probably figured this out by now, and if you haven't, I'm spelling it out for you: I have a missionary's heart. In other words, I want people to know about my Jesus! I want them to know what Jesus did for them! I want every person from the beginning of time to the end of it to understand how amazing this Gospel message is! 

Jesus left heaven and came to earth, the One limitless and infinite God confining Himself into a limited and finite body -- which just blows my mind -- to suffer what we suffer as a result of sin nature. He died in that body, and then, because He did not sin Himself, but took our sins on Himself as a perfect sacrifice, He conquered death and the enemy who brought it, beat him forever, and ascended to heaven.

Some day -- soon, I believe -- He's coming again to take us home to live with Him forever. 

He did it for us. And He didn't attach a price-tag (His sacrifice would cost too much). It's free -- this salvation. It only requires repentance for our sins and acceptance of what Jesus did in our place. 

He did it for you, for me, for every. single. person. He did it because of His unimaginable love for us.

My frustration? Because I have this heart to tell people this message, I've wrestled with what to do when I'm asked to "be quiet." See... I believe that this message is not just important for our life-span here on earth; this message holds the weight of eternity. We are either eternally alive, in heaven, in glory, forever, with Jesus, before the crystal throne and by the sea of glass, on the streets of gold, behind the twelve gates of pearl, on the twelve foundations made of precious stones, because of our decision to accept Jesus' gift... or we are eternally in torment, in hell, in the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels, forever, because of our decision to reject that free gift. 

I've heard this: "Well, a good God wouldn't send anyone to hell." You're absolutely right. A good God offers a Get Out Of Jail Free card (thanks, Monopoly), but if we put that card back at the bottom of the Treasure Chest, we've got no one to blame but ourselves. We can't blame God for what we ourselves choose to do. We talk about freedom of choice; y'all, that is freedom of choice. And how dare we point at God and say: He caused my suffering!

We can't bypass the decision, we can't shove it aside and say it doesn't affect us. It does. Every single one of us. We each have to decide what to do with this gift when it's placed in front of us. Swipe it away as fast as a Tinder rejection? Or embrace it?

Where was I going? Oh yes. :) See, I work in a system where God is "not supposed to be mentioned." Or if you mention Him, you are supposed to keep Him... ambivalent. Educational mentions only. No weight behind it.

And when you believe with your whole heart that He is the single most important Person you can ever introduce to anyone, it's hard to know how to navigate these waters. 

The shore is right there. If your friend is flailing, are you going to watch him struggle? 

No. And that's why Acts 28:31 was so encouraging to me: Paul, chained and under house arrest, still preached the Gospel. Even though Paul was chained, restricted, told to hush, told to keep quiet, ... God's Word is NOT CHAINED. 

Paul reminds his readers in Romans 1:16: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes!"

So, in restriction, please, please still offer that hope. In chains, please still reach out. Paul did. And many, many people -- through his chained-up ministry, found the security and safety of the shore. Look at how God used Paul, even in chains. Because His Word, His message, is not chained! 

Yeah!!! Hallelujah!