Freedom Legs

 

"Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved." John Newton, "Amazing Grace" 1779.  

Her name is Alice Marie Johnson and she is my most recent hero in a current culture that produces few. In 1996, she was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a non-violent drug crime, a sentence that would label her a ‘Lifer.’ After 22 years incarcerated, her sentence was finally commuted by the President and she was eventually pardoned. In an interview about her experience Alice responded to what it was like be a ‘Lifer’. “My final resting place was supposed to be in there. I’ve been told the death certificate for a dead prisoner will say you escaped your sentence only by death. And that was the way I was supposed to leave prison. Not walking out, but carried out lifeless and cold…But while they sentenced me to life, they couldn’t take my life from me like that. I could still choose to live. Incarcerated isn’t powerless. I still knew my power was in deciding who I am. ‘Lifer’: That’s a label, but that wasn’t me. I decide who I am. I’m Alice.”

I began considering how we all are labeled by our circumstances. Divorced…barren... unemployed...bankrupt...terminal…sinner …griever…addict to name a few. I have labels that I placed upon my own incarceration…labels of being a bad mother…a bad wife…a bad Christian. Living under the weight of labels can feel like a life sentence…'lifeless and cold.’ But as Alice pointed out, we can still choose to live and to live abundantly as Jesus promised despite our situations. When we place our power in the truths of God, no circumstance can hold us against our will. When we allow God to define us, we live and walk in freedom. The beautiful thing I love about God is that He not only commutes our sentence but He completely pardons our sins. He redefines us not by our actions, but by our repentance and His forgiveness. He breathes new life into our lives and removes the stain of labels. To continue defining ourselves by past mistakes is to not trust God for His Word and to believe that He is not who He says He is. It is to question both His faithfulness and His power. Alice Johnson believed God for His promises and never gave up hope. She said once God brought her out of her situation she had to ‘find her freedom legs.’ 

What do your freedom legs look like? Is it breaking out of depression and claiming hope for the future? Is it continuing to pray for that miracle when the horizon looks bleak? Is it taking God at His word when He says His plans are good and prosperous for you? Like the hymn states, grace teaches us to revere and trust God and grace will relieve us from all fears. 

We decide who we are…we are forgiven…now let us run with new legs the race that God has set before us!