Breaking Chains

It is one of those seasons when everything seems impossible.  The circumstances are so overwhelming, so thoroughly insurmountable, there is absolutely nothing I can do.  

Right in the middle of this dark and terrible time, I imagine chains, huge iron chains, breaking apart and falling off. Remember the apostle Peter in that dark prison so long ago?  In the middle of the night, at the very moment that the church is earnestly praying for him, an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in that dark cell. Immediately the chains that bound him fell to the ground and he was set free!

If God can miraculously break the physical chains that held Peter captive in that dark prison cell, surely that same powerful God can miraculously break the spiritual chains that are holding me prisoner in this darkness.

I take a deep breath, turn my face upwards, and then extend my hand in a symbolic, universal gesture of bestowing a blessing. If I am going to fight this battle, I am going to do it right.  I am going to lift my hands. Just like Paul and Silas in their own dark prison cells, I am going to pray out loud and sing out loud.  I will put my fear and self-consciousness and awkwardness aside, and I will have confidence that the Lord will hear me and will answer the longings of my heart.

I pray for the Light of God to dispel any darkness. I pray that His angel armies would be victorious in whatever spiritual battle is raging at this moment.  I pray that His presence would be with me.  I pray that He would accomplish His purposes.

And I can’t help but sing.  I sing the name of Jesus, that powerful name that can conquer any enemy and break every chain: 

  

“There is power in the name of Jesus.
There is power in the name of Jesus.
There is power in the name of Jesus

To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain!”

And then one of my favorite current songs, a reminder that He is the source of every victory.  That He is able to break any chain! 

If you’ve got pain, He’s a pain taker
If you feel lost, He’s a way maker
If you need freedom or saving,
He’s a prison-shaking Savior
If you’ve got chains, He’s a chain breaker!

Afterwards, I don’t feel particularly victorious.  I don’t see any miracles happen.  There is no violent earthquake.  No walls suddenly crumble.  In fact, my situation did not change in the slightest.  Did any of this really make any difference?  Probably not.

But I have obeyed what I felt God was asking me to do.  I have entered this battle with the armor He has given me.  I have, once again, entrusted my life into the hands of the only One who can rescue me.

I think about that pivotal scene in Peter’s life. His chains fell off and he was free, an amazing, miraculous moment!  But that wasn’t the end of the story.  He left that prison cell, and when he arrived at the place where his friends were still praying, they were shocked!  They didn’t believe that it was actually him standing at the gate.  

You know what this tells me?  It tells me that Peter’s chains did not fall off because of his friends’ abundant faith.  Peter’s freedom was not dependent on his friends’ belief that it would actually happen.  They may have felt awkward and self-conscious.  Most likely, they didn’t feel particularly victorious.

But still they prayed.  They simply prayed in obedience.  In spite of their limited faith; in spite of their doubts that it would really make a difference; in spite of their small, insufficient faith, they prayed.  And that’s all it took.  That was enough to break the chains.