Last week I spoke about my thumb surgery in which it fused or fixed my thumb middle joint. Although it's not totally "fused", it's on its way to being fused. The journey of being fused involved me initially having a cast that "restricted" my wrist and thumb. This cast however did allow me to move my fingers and my thumb tip. I had to keep this cast on for two weeks and then have a thermoplastic splint fabricated which also was to "restrict" my thumb but I was able to remove it to bathe and do thumb exercises. Although this smaller splint allowed more freedom, I still had to keep it on. My doctor said she will allow the smaller splint because she trust me to do the right thing. She also said if I was an active male, she would maintain the cast. Although I have the smaller splint, I know that my thumb joint is not totally fused. If I was to try something out of the ordinary, my thumb will tell me to, "stop it" by giving me pain. And of course, I would and will oblige.
How does this relate to our relationship with God? First, when we first come into the relationship with God, it may feel we're "restricted" or that we don't have any freedom. Or maybe in certain areas of our lives in which we need better control, God restricts us from participating in those areas. The "restrictions" are not so we can't have any fun, it's to make us stronger in Him. The "restrictions" are to help us to walk upright in Him so we can better serve Him. We must also realize that each person's "restrictions" are personalized to them. Once we have a "God-view" of these "restrictions", God can then trust us with more "freedoms". Although we may have these "freedoms" , if we do something out of the ordinary, we will feel it. The Spirit within us will be grieved and we end up hurting. Let me give an example. Say a person used to do drugs. Whenever they were around a certain crowd, it would cause them to fall in that area. The "restriction" would be not to hang around that crowd of people. As the person gets stronger in Christ, and their taste for drugs has gone away, God can then trust them to maybe visit that crowd, not to partake but to witness to them about Christ. Suppose the person slipped and partook of the drugs, he would feel convicted and "pained" because He let God down.
In general, we all have some type of "restrictions" God has placed in our lives. These "restrictions" are not for us to not have any freedom. Matter of fact, we have freedom outside of the restrictions placed on us. Why not focus on the freedoms we have and not the "restrictions". Eventually, we will enjoy the "restrictions". Have a blessed week!