I have been living the American dream. Okay, I’m Canadian, but you know what I mean. I live in a free land, am able to gather with other Christians and worship freely; and I am free to get up and go to my successful career each day to make enough money to own a home, a car and put groceries in my refrigerator each week. I am blessed with two children, a girl and a boy, have two dogs, a cat, and I live in a clean, safe neighborhood. I’ve been living the dream life. Or so it would seem…
Images can be deceiving.
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:34-36)
The question is: am I a daughter set free, or am I a slave? Have I really been living the perfect life? Am I truly free? The answer is, no, I have not been living a life of freedom. Underneath this image I portray is the truth; I have been living the life of a slave—a slave with a very harsh slave-master called Abortion.
Society wants us to believe that abortion is a simple answer—a simple procedure, which will solve all the problems that an unwanted pregnancy, or one with severe complications, can bring. And in that moment of fear, with her back forced against the wall, a woman might think it is her only answer. I know, because I was that woman. At the moment, when a woman is scared and has her back forced up against a wall, abortion can seem like the only option. For me, it appeared to be the only answer. I was deceived into believing that it would free me, but the reality is that this “procedure” I believed would free me, actually threw me into the darkest of jail cells with no sign of ever being free again. There was no sign of light ever shining again on the darkness of devastation, and deep regret that would cover my heart in the years that followed. I would carry my secret around with me in shame, as my slave-master kept his tight grip on me, ensuring that I would never forget what I had done.
But God…
Don’t you just love when the Bible says “but God…”? These two little words are words of hope—hope that whatever your situation is, God can meet you there and change it. Yes you may be in a terrible place, but God… Yes you may be hurting, but God… I can be enslaved by my sin, but God can send his Light into my darkness and set me free. I was in denial and avoiding dealing with it when God began shining his light on me. I had shoved it down deep and actually wasn’t at all interested in digging it up, but God had other plans. I was angry. I rebelled. I didn’t want to do what it was going to take to be set free.
But Jesus called to me, “Come!”
He opened the doors to the cell that held me captive for almost ten years and said, “Come, you are forgiven. I died so you could be free.”
Over time , as I have allowed God to tend to this sin that has enslaved my heart; I have known unbearable pain and loss, but I have also known the comfort that can only be found in my Lord Jesus Christ. At the cross, I have found peace. In surrender, I have found freedom. And now, as Christ is saying to me, “Go, and bring comfort as I have comforted you; go and tell of the freedom from the slavery of sin;,” I say to you, my sweet sisters in Christ, “You can be free from the bondage that having an abortion brings into your life. You can be free from the shame and guilt of any past sin.” Turn to the One who died a shameful and agonizing death on the cross so that you, beloved daughter, can be set free.
“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”
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