Freedom from Fear

Last night I joined a few hundred people on a walk to downtown Abilene, sleeping bag in tow. We gathered in a parking lot to sleep for the night, and in doing so, joined tens of thousands of children in Northern Uganda who commute nightly to escape abduction by the rebel army in their country. People in over 130 cities across the country participated in the Global Night Commute to help raise awareness of the situation these children are facing daily. We wrote letters to President Bush and our Senators to tell them why our nation needs to get involved in the lives of the Invisible Children and the war in Uganda. It was really neat to be apart of this event, and I certainly had some interesting thoughts throughout the night.

However, as I was sitting down on the pavement writing my letters with others sleeping around me it occured to me that though we were there 'laying down with the children,' we remained separated by one thing: fear. See, the Ugandan children commute in order to save their very lives, to keep from being forced to fight and kill others. And though we were merely being symbolic in our actions last night, we were able to walk down the street, gather together, laugh and hang out for a few hours, and sleep in peace. We were able to get up this morning and return to our homes and continue on with our lives, not afraid of having to do it all over again come sunset. How much to we take for granted the fact that we can rise each morning and know that our needs will be met for the day, and we don't have to worry about being recruiting for violent action. In fact, we don't have to worry about much except whether to wear the blue or green shirt, whether or not we liked the songs sung at church Sunday morning, and what to eat for supper. That's the beauty of America, right? Land of the free? Cause we've already fought our way to the top, we've already 'won our freedom,' we're all set, so we can go about our lives in comfort and confidence.

But have we thought about why God has allowed us to be so blessed? Could it be that He intended that those who have been given much ought to in turn give graciously to others? Could it be that we are to do all we can to give freedom and hope to those such as the children in Uganda? Even more so, could it be that we should equally open our eyes to those in our own country and reach out to set free those in bondage from their daily struggles and pain? Could it be that there are people next door to you that need a way out of the fear that they live in? Could it be that you have an answer to such freedom?