Seeing Yesterday's News thru the Eyes of Faith

Yesterday there was some dramatic news of an escape from captivity by three women and a child. 

This is a tragic story with a quasi happy ending.  What makes it more difficult is the end is a long way off for these three young women.

They have been tied up and locked up for a decade.  Abused. Captives.

There is much that is not known about this.  There may well be some twists and turns yet to be revealed.

Here are some parallels in this case to the bondage those held captive by the enemy and in need of deliverance.

• The bondage was a long time and became for them a new normal.
• This was probably not the first time they had the chance to escape.  
• There was fruitfulness from this captivity in a child.  
• No one from the outside thought anything was wrong from external indications in that house.
• The captors seemed ordinary. Accepted.  Paid taxes.  Worked.  Played with his dog.
• The reason for the captivity was not abuse but use.  If it were abuse alone they would already be dead.

Now that these young women and a child are free...freedom is going to be very hard.  They are going to have to learn to adapt.  How to deal.  They will need a lot of deliverance.  They are going to need rooting and grounding.  The potential to go back into another form of bondage is real.
 
The people who loved them who wanted to see them free died without it ever coming  to pass in their lifetime.  The mother of one worked (and prayed perhaps) to see freedom.. but died before ever realizing.  YET the child she fought for is now free.  This is encouraging for those who may pray and fast over a bound child.. and die before ever seeing the manifestation of their prayers.  It has always been so. 

All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Hebrews 11:13

We need to be happy when someone is released from bondage.  That is only a first step.  In a way it is the house swept clean.  Luke 11:24-26   The demons surrounding them, memories of the last decade will haunt and in a sad way cause them to become even more vulnerable in the future.

Sometimes darkness has a way of trying to envelope people, even after they have seen the light.  Hebrews 6:4-6

We need to recognize the pattern of bondage and captivity. In a way, many ordinary normal looking people you see all around you are bound and broken inside.  Most of the time the casual observer will see nothing.  Until they are set free.

Let's hope there is a fellowship of believers in the Cleveland area that can somehow help them walk back into the light and stay free of bondage.  The battle really begins AFTER the bondage is broken.