God can open any cage, can usurp authority over any trap that has taken us captive. He is the ‘bondage breaker!’

Trapped!

Claustrophobic people get the implications of this word easily. They know the feeling of confinement, no room, suffocating dread and fast beating heart.

But all of us have been acquainted with the word trapped, even if not in a physical way. We’ve been ensnared by insufficient finances for our current debts… been smothered by someone unreasonably ‘in our face.’ The thought of being cornered, confined, blocked or locked in can be unsettling to terrifying.

As the newly appointed king, David felt trapped for the next seventeen years after his anointing as he fled for his life from jealous King Saul. (I Samuel 21) He was trapped… until he wasn’t! In God’s timing he ascended totally to his throne and led Israel well for many years.

Daniel was thrust into a cave of lions for violating the King’s orders. ‘Trapped’ must hold its own special terror surrounded by hungry lions. (Daniel 6) He was trapped… until he wasn’t! God held the beasts at bay to get him safely through the night and back above ground.

The story of Jonah could reduce someone with claustrophobia to a nervous breakdown just thinking about being confined inside a large fish for a couple of days! (Jonah 1) You know he felt trapped… until he wasn’t!

In the Gospel of Luke, chapter eight, we are introduced to a man who was really trapped. He was filled with demonic spirits and was forced from the normal flow of life and lived in a graveyard. It’s impossible to feel what it must be like to have only demons for company. He was hopelessly trapped… until through the power of Jesus he wasn’t!

These few stories have one thing in common… God knows how traps operate and knows how to release us from them. Romans 10:13 assures us that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” ESV Traps of addiction, fear, failed health, broken relationships or any other type of entrapment are no match for the power of our Deliverer.

He knows when and how to show up. His timing may not parallel our desire for a quick release, but He is the ‘bondage breaker’… He is the justice applier… and He loves us too much to want us living in shackles.

“We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken,

and we are free!” Psalm 124:7 NLT

 Update! Fresh Heart For A New Day – Volume 2 is ‘being released’ as I type this! Barnes and Nobles has the Nook ebook edition on their website… waiting for Amazon to make theirs available. By the way, for those of you who do not own Fresh Heart For A New Day, first volume, it is now reduced on Amazon to under $15.

 Keep checking Amazon and Barnes and Noble and other outlets because I’ve been told both books in print and Nook and Kindle editions should be available very soon.