CHAINS
Today's reading: Isaiah 7-11

"For God will break the chains that bind his people, and the whip that scourges them, just as he did when he destroyed the army of Midian with Gideon's little band." Isaiah 9:4 NLT

Chains don't just bind. They don't just confine. They don't only keep us from doing what we want to do.

You see, I'm thinking about the old log chain my husband keeps in the barn. In a specific place in the barn. In a place where we always know where it is. In a place that's easy to get to--because we need it pretty often.

Not to bind something up. Not to keep something confined. Not to keep something from doing what it wants to do and it shouldn't.

It's used, several times a year especially in the spring, to pull our lawn mower out of the ditch.

When we think we can inch just a little closer to the wetter part of the yard. When we think one more pass will make it look nicer. When we (mostly I) think going at it at a much higher speed will allow me to zip right through the softer ground that grabs the tires and won't let go.

That's when we get the chain. And the four-wheeler. To pull us out of somewhere we shouldn't be and ended up at easier than we thought we would.

When today's verse told me that God breaks the chains used by my enemy, that's what I immediately thought about. God breaks the chains used by satan to draw me away. He breaks the chains of my heart that allow me to wander from Him. He breaks the chains of temptation that cause my heart to go astray.

Of all the sermons I've heard about the chains broken by God, I've never heard it presented in that way. Sure, I've heard them talk about the binding properties of chains. The restrictive properties. The disabling properties. But the chains satan uses to lure me away?

Satan is tugging at my mind already this morning. He's attempting to distract me. He wants to change my focus...but God breaks those chains. God makes it impossible for satan to have a pull on me.

My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God my Savior has ransomed me!