Breaking the Restraints

I have had the most bizarre week! It's just been this wild ride with extreme ups and downs. There were things I thought were bad, but turned out good and things I thought would never get resolved that finally did, with unexpected results.

I was reading in Mosiah, chapter 24, when I came across the last sentence in verse 16: "Be of good comfort, for on the morrow, I will deliver you out of bondage." I can't explain the force with which those words hit me, but I knew that some area of my life was going to either undergo change or reach a resolution. Little did I know, it would be both!

In my personal life, there was one element that has needed resolution and direction for quite some time, but it was never going to happen through my own efforts. It was just one of those things that required the actions of someone else. I just didn't have the strength or insight to see what needed to be done. In retrospect, it was a type of bondage that was preventing me from moving forward or going backward. I was not progressing toward where I needed to be and was just lingering in limbo. When the end came, it was no real surprise, even though at first, I was bewildered. I can't say that I wasn't emotionally unscathed, but I quickly came to recognize a freedom, of sorts, and a new empowerment.

Work is another area with a situation that has been stagnating too long as well. For almost two months, I've been waiting for my review from my boss. He just kept hemming and hawing and I was beginning to feel like I would never get the much anticipated and desperately needed raise. Finally, he called me into his office and gave me the most glowing review I have ever had! He said it was also the best review he has ever given. We ended our interview with the promise of an increase, but how much remained to be seen. I was anticipating the standard 3%, 5% tops! Imagine my surprise when he called me in yesterday and handed me a slip of paper with my new salary written on it.....almost 10% increase in pay! I was literally speechless! He told me it was the highest increase he has ever given!

I've come to the conclusion that "bondage" comes in many forms, as does deliverance. Sometimes bondage is self-imposed, sometimes it is forced upon us and other times, we just sort of stumble into it and can't seem to fight our way back out. In my case, I wasn't even aware that I was "bound" until I was finally freed. It made me begin to understand how easily we can become ensnared by things in our life and not realize the extent of our captivity until it has progressed too far. When we are bound by sin, deliverance is much more difficult to achieve than the events that I have related. My personal experiences were by no means negative, but even so, I didn't see the situations for what they were until I was freed from them. Imagine how swiftly the wrong situations can overpower and trap us, without our even being aware that we are trapped until it's too late......just food for thought.