What it Takes to Walk Into Destiny
“Let my people go!” has been the cry of liberators down through the centuries. It was William Wallace’s as well.
William Wallace (aka Braveheart) was a Moses for the Scottish people. He confronted the king who was oppressing them with a message of liberty.
Yet, like Moses or Gandhi or MLK, Wallace did not get to see his people walking in freedom. Liberators rarely get that privilege. They expend their lives breaking the existing power structures that subjugate the masses and then they die.
Of course those in power almost never go off quietly into the night. They strike back and kill. And it is left to the next generation to walk over the Jordan and into freedom. In Wallace’s case, there was a nobleman’s son, Robert the Bruce, who picked up the standard and finished the job.
But Robert the Bruce was not an obvious successor to Wallace’s efforts. He had to consider the cost of freedom and choose to pay it. Destiny comes at a price. Real freedom almost always requires sacrifice – sometimes of lives. They don’t call people “freedom fighters” for nothing.
So that begs the question: What freedoms if any would you be willing to die for?
The original pilgrims forfeited their lives for freedom, nearly half dying in the first winter off the Mayflower. The Greatest Generation fought and died so that their children, the Baby Boomers, got to live in peace.
God’s strategy for freedom is often multi-generational. It’s true in nature – almost any animal or any bird will fight and die to protect its young. And so it is that we get to fight for our children too.
Robert the Bruce might never have led his nation into freedom without William Wallace. It took him years to fully understand Wallace’s radicalism and courage. And it took time after that to walk into destiny. Perhaps Robert the Bruce was more political in his outlook. He had a lot to lose, but at some point, he chose to put in on the line to fight for freedom.
You may not be a Braveheart, but maybe you can be a Robert the Bruce. Maybe there are people that you need to lead into freedom. Is there anyone who has preceded you and laid down their lives so that you could walk in freedom? What price do you put on it and what price are you willing to pay?
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There are so many people who have laid down their lives that I may walk in freedom and I will forever be grateful for that. From the service men and women to those who have fought the battles that no one will ever see, I cannot say thank you enough to all the everyday heroes. I have often said that the thing that is MOST important to me is my freedom and the thing I am most afraid of losing is just that. Thankfully I have learned that freedom is not always defined in the way we think. For me I have been fully free physically and in chains and I have also been physically limited and yet completely free.
My dad used to say, “with freedom comes responsibility” and I hung onto this. So many people have helped me walk in freedom. From counselors to team leaders to missions trip leaders to people who God led into my life for one day or even just a season I have been so incredibly blessed. They have loved me and led me towards greater freedom and I do feel that it is my responsibility and even more so a privilege to lead others. Currently, I think there are a lot of people under my care (or it feels this way) that I lead towards freedom. I feel a responsibility to the 16 survivors of sex trafficking that I counsel and support. I feel a responsibility to those I see each week in group in jails and lock-down facilities and recovery centers. I feel a responsibility also to those I interact with daily. I may not be fighting a physical war for them but certainly there are days that are a battlefield and we are fighting together towards freedom in various areas. This actually is the very thing many days that drives me to pressing into greater personal freedom because I know I cannot lead them safely into new territory so to speak until I first am willing to go there or have been there. So I am really grateful for those who lead because each day they remind me of the importance of not just “talking” about freedom but modeling it. And now that I have tasted and seen freedom I never want to go back. I remember what it was like to be enslaved and I know what it feels like to be free. There is no greater feeling in the world for me than knowing I am free.