Break free from your SHELTER…

2 Timothy 1:7; “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (fear), but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (NIV)

The other day my wife was looking out the back window of our home observing our new “rescue dog” Boyd sprinting across the yard having fun with his “brother” Onyx. My wife commented; “five months ago that dog could barely walk.” Yes, when we rescued Boyd from the animal shelter, he was fat, lazy and very unambitious.

A couple of days after Boyd left the animal shelter and came to his new home, I took him for a walk and we got about 200 yards into the walk and he sat down and would not go any farther because he was exhausted. Today, after a good night’s sleep, Boyd is up before dawn hunting animals in our woods and spends most of his time hanging out and hunting with our lab/setter Onyx. Boyd has probably lost 25 pounds and looks very svelte these days and is an awesome dog.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to help many people in their struggles with addiction, co-dependency or other obstacles in life. Those who overcome their obstacles find a way to break free from their past and their bad habits and those who remain in bondage remain slaves to their past, or like my dog prior to his rescue, they continue to live in their self-made “shelters” of isolation.

Unlike my dog Boyd, as human beings, we have the ability to choose whether or not we stay stuck in our old way of living. But, like my dog Boyd, once we break free from the past we find ourselves doing things we never dreamed of doing.

In Timothy, we are told a spirit of timidity and/or fear is not of God. God gives us the spirit of power, love and self-discipline. What is interesting is that those three traits are what I see in Boyd today and it was simply because we “rescued” him from his past life and future fate as an animal shelter dog.

If you are stuck in a rut and find yourself thinking the same old thoughts and acting out the same old actions and feeling the same old way, it is time to allow God to “rescue” you from your past and your “shelter.” God sent his son to die for all of our sins, and to give us His Spirit of power, love and self-discipline and the ability to break free from fear and the timid spirit our past and “shelters” create.

How do we overcome this timid spirit? How do we rescue ourselves from our self-induced “shelter?”

First we need to surrender to God daily by admitting we have a timid Spirit, a Spirit of fear, a Spirit stuck in the past, and most likely a Spirit that is very self-centered and self-focused and has created a “shelter” around us. Then we need to seek the Spirit’s help through daily prayer and scripture reading and in turn accept the power, love and self-discipline a life led by the Spirit will generate. We need to remind ourselves to tap into the Spirit early and often throughout the day.

Then we need to develop the new habits my dog Boyd has developed…he eats right, he sleeps right, he exercises right, and he hangs out with other fun dogs who do not live in an animal shelter (his brother Onyx).

P.E.A.C.E.

P.S. Although my final sentence about Boyd’s new habits may seem a bit corny, those habits are attributes that usually separate “timid/sheltered Christians from loving, powerful and self-disciplined Christians. If your prayer life and scripture reading isn’t helping you break free from your shelter, try focusing on taking care of your body and find some, fun, shelterless Christians to hang out with.

Jay@EagleLaunch.com