The Freedom of Constraints

Could your best life be found in the freedom of constraints, not the freedom from constraints?

A Beggar

He was the kind of guy you couldn’t forget. He set up shop in the same place at the same time for most of his adult existence. I say set up shop because that’s how he made a living. I know you’ve seen guys like him. Sometimes they have a sign. Sometimes they have a story. They are people who make a living by begging. Begging was all he knew to do to survive. He was good at it. The guy couldn’t walk. His legs were shriveled. Been like that ever since he was born. And he was over 40 now.

Those who beg for a living have their preferred places. His place was in a high traffic area just outside a well-known tourist site. It was a temple, famous around the world. The temple was believed to be the place where the presence of God resided on earth. The ultimate holy and sacred place. Literally hundreds of thousands of people came to this temple every year. The religion of those who worshipped at this temple commanded generosity to the poor. Giving alms to beggars was a way to earn merit, so this was a perfect spot to beg. Everyday this guy’s friends carried him to his place. No doubt he shared some of his money with those friends. It could have been their business model; a successful formula for all of them to make money.

The Hope

On this day, two men came on the scene. They had walked by this man many times before. They had been coming to the Temple along this route for years. But this day would be different. In the middle of the afternoon, around 3pm, the guy was begging as always and he saw the two men and asked for money. They stop. One of the men says to the guy, “Look over here.” So, the guy looked their way expecting that he would get some money. And one of the men said I don’t have any money. And it was true.

Ironically, the beggar had more money than these men had. But I will give you what I have. And then he said, “Stand up.” Then he took the guy by the hand and something happened. It was like a bolt of electricity went through the guy and he leapt up and landed on his feet. He suddenly had two good legs. It all happened so fast. It was unbelievable. And then the guy began to walk. Not wobbly like a guy who had never walked before, but real good walking and then he started leaping and crying and hugging. It was incredibly remarkable, a miracle, a real miracle. The more exuberant the guy was the more people noticed. There was quite a stir. And people come running from everywhere. That’s what people do when a miracle happens.

Wants and Needs

This story took place in Jerusalem about 2000 years ago. You can read the story in the Bible. The Acts of the Apostles chapter 3 and verses 1-8.

Here’s my lesson from the story. Don’t miss this. If Peter had been able to give the crippled man what he wanted – money, Peter could not have given him what he needed – a miracle of healing.

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If you have everything you want, you might miss what you really need.

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 The COVID-19 global pandemic was characterized by constraint. Lockdowns, the closure of schools and public places, constraints on visiting loved ones in nursing homes, hospitals, going to church, attending funerals, graduations, birthday parties, wedding receptions, physical distancing, masks.

For my generation this was unprecedented. I dare say that we faced more constraints in two years than we faced in our lifetimes.

Freedom of Constraints?

At the same time freedom was elevated as the rallying call against all things constraining. The iconic blue face of Mel Gibson’s William Wallace and his cry for Freedom! was the sound bite of the moment. How can you argue against freedom?

God’s way is to give us the freedom of constraints not from constraints.

God leads by constraints.

We can’t live without air, water, and food.

We have a limited life span of 70 or 80 years.

The Ten Commandments are for freedom. The freedom of constraint.

We can easily think that freedom is the absence of constraints. I was at the Washington monument and marvelled at all the kites flying over the green space. Look at the kites against the sky, tethered at the end of a line of string. Freeing one of those kites from the string wouldn’t allow it to soar. It will cause it to crash to the ground.

Think of a fish. Freeing a fish from water will kill the fish.

Think of astronauts on the SpaceX Dragon for nine months and the weightlessness of outer space. Weightlessness sounds freeing but removing the effects of gravity for a prolonged time will compromise muscles, lungs and brain function. WeightLIFTing not weightLESSness is good for your body.

Overrated

Thinking outside the box is over-rated.

The intention is good. Shake off the constraints of typical thinking and be creative.

However, if you’ve ever been in a meeting where someone suggested “Hey, let’s think outside the box” the very first idea sounds like stupid on steroids.

That’s because unlimited options are often paralyzing.

Consider this: Think differently about the box.

Have you ever watched a child at Christmas play more with the box than what was in the box?

A refrigerator box can become a car or a chariot or spaceship or a tunnel.

Rather than fight the constraints and think outside the box, think what the constraints of the box might become.

Freedom and Jesus

Jesus faced the ultimate constraint.

Jesus is the creator God.

To become the Saviour he had to take on human form.

That meant he had to be born as a human.

That meant the God who occupies the Universe had to constrain himself into an embryo, go through nine months gestation and be born. That’s the Christmas story.

Where are you facing tension? In your family? Your business? Your health? In your church?

Peter and John didn’t have money, but it was that constraint that led to a miracle.

You may not have all you want but you have everything you need.

What do you think?

Please join the conversation and post a comment below. Thank you.

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