Unraveled
As someone who is prone to fear… fear of failure, rejection, criticism… you can imagine why the song, “No Longer Slaves (to Fear)”, speaks life and courage into me. For weeks, I haven’t been able to shake the phrase --- “You unravel me”. Something about that word, unravel, strikes a chord in my soul. So I do what I always do when this transpires --- I let it marinate. I allow it to plant a seed deep within my heart and take root. And for fun, I consult the dictionary and once again am in awe of its transformational meaning.
- To separate or disentangle the threads of
- To free from complication or difficulty
- To take apart, undo
A thick cord consists of many threads; the strength of a cord is usually determined by the number of entwined strands. Think sheets. Generally, the greater the thread count the better the supposed quality. However, what if our lives are entangled with threads that aren’t useful but are downright detrimental to our well-being? They have deceived us by artfully and habitually wrapping themselves around us until we are enslaved, beholden to them. In fact, we are not stronger by their presence but weaker. We realize too late that our life is no longer our own but now belongs to the destructive desires and vices that have woven themselves around our being. And so the fear sets in because we know how relentless and insatiable are these masters. They will threaten, bully and control us, and still we will cling to them, dreading separation.
And life how complicated and difficult it becomes when we attempt to retrieve the loosening strands. Seizing them not because they add life and breath but we fear life without them. Exhaustion, discouragement, and inadequacy are our constant companions as we recognize that we cannot possibly hold all of these threads together and yet are paralyzed by the alternative --- freedom from these constraints.
There is a whisper amidst it all that tenderly nudges, “Let me take apart the strands that hold you in captivity.” But enslavement has become the norm, the expected, life itself. Being stripped of the threads would leave us exposed and naked, seemingly without the illusion of self- preservation. So we scramble to keep the threads in place, grasping frantically at those strands… for they appear to be unraveling…
Ahhhh… there it is … that word… unravel… “You unravel me with a melody of deliverance…”. It was there all along speaking life into us. Right beyond the chaos and fear of coming unraveled… right on the other side is peace and freedom from the fear that’s held us in its clutches!
His perfect love takes the destructive threads of our lives {personally name these threads for yourself}, and He unravels them. He separates us from that which is destroying us from the inside out. He hits the undo button of our habits and our conformity, all along speaking a new melody of deliverance. And as He does this, we come face to face with the things that sought to prevent us from the ideal plan of our Creator, and we finally give into the deep desire of our Heavenly Father.
What a sigh of relief floods my soul. I’m free from the threads of entanglement that set out with the full intent of destroying me. The breath of freedom fills my lungs with the oxygen to live differently, unencumbered by my fears and insecurities. It’s as if the threads had hid from sight the truth, clothing me in a shroud of darkness. Once the threads were removed the scale of darkness fell revealing the light and the simple truth --- “I’m no longer a slave to fear --- For I am a child of God”.
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father”.” Romans 8:15