When have you felt trapped?

Sometimes there are stories that we tell ourselves that entrap us. We get stuck in untrue stories we say about ourselves: I’m not good enough. I can’t. I am not capable. This is the way it always has been. This is just how I am expected to be. I am not strong enough. Things can’t change.

These false stories cage us, limiting our abilities to create full lives for the glory of God.

Jesus tells a story about an unnamed woman who feels trapped:



“And Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he returned to the temple. All the people gathered around him, and he sat down and taught them. The legal experts and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery. Placing her in the center of the group, they said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery.In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone women like this. What do you say?” They said this to test him, because they wanted a reason to bring an accusation against him. Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger.

They continued to question him, so he stood up and replied, “Whoever hasn’t sinned should throw the first stone.” Bending down again, he wrote on the ground. Those who heard him went away, one by one, beginning with the elders. Finally, only Jesus and the woman were left in the middle of the crowd.

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Is there no one to condemn you?”

She said, “No one, sir.”

Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, don’t sin anymore.

John 8:1-11 (Common English Bible via BibleGateway)

The people around her are also trapped in continuing the same old storylines. Jesus does what Jesus does best – he disrupts the storyline. He allow space for a new story to be told – one of the new choices, one of freedom, one of dignity.

What are the stories you have chosen to believe? How can you begin a new chapter of your life?

Prayer:

Author of life,

Like a caged bird, I have too often let lies, doubt and even my own sins trap me and hold me back. I ask you to give me the courage to re-write my story. Let my life be a story of freedom, peace, and the joy found in you alone. Amen.