"Break the Chains" has become the calling card for Never Forsaken. Everywhere we go Jim gives a brief testimony about himself and the whole team about the chains that God has broken in the lives of each of the band members. Those things that weigh us down, hold us back and that the enemy likes to use against us when we're weak. Everyone has a story and has chains that hold them in place instead of being able to grow in Gods plan. God broke Jim's (ministry leader/lead guitarist) chains of alcoholism with no program or rehab. His wife Lois (bassist) was freed from regretting things that she had done in her past before she was saved. Doug (drummer) stopped holding grudges against people who had wronged him. Gage (tech crew) was freed from an addiction to heroin. Cristabelle (lead vocalist) was released from fear. Bob (sound engineer) stopped being quick to anger.
Myself? I had to think hard about that. It wasn't that I didn't think God was moving in my life, but because I didn't feel like I had such clear cut answer like everyone else did. And since I wasn't on stage with the band actually dropping the chains and sharing, I stopped trying to think of one. No one really talked to me about it anyway, so no big deal right? Well then Jim started calling me out in the crowed and telling people they could talk to me about my chains. Now I had to think of something. A few shows went by and still nothing came to me for what to say. I started to worry every night that someone would ask me and I'd have nothing to say. I really had to dig in and spend some one-on-one with God to figure this one out.
Finally He showed me. God has broken my chains of taking my self worth from other people rather than Him. I had always relied on my family, friends and people around me for my self-esteem and to tell me who I was. I would change my personality to fit the people I was around so that I would be accepted and people would like me. I realized that the reason why it took so long for me to see that was because it was a gradual change. It didn't happen all at once, it took some time. I really couldn't even say how long it took or when the last bits of that chain fell. I just know that changing how I saw myself and how I felt about myself was not something that I could do on my own. That was all God.
For some people, God helped them bust through their chains like an ax on the chopping block, mine took some more time with a saw working its way through the metal. I thought for a while that because I couldn't identify my struggle right away that maybe I couldn't say that God broke any of my chains. That just wasn't the case. It just took some time for me to realize that God doesn't always have to come though like a wrecking ball. Sometimes our chains are wrapped so tight around who we think we are that He has to work a little slower so that we don't get hurt in the process.
We would love to know what chains God has broken in you life! Leave a comment for us with your praise reports!
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