I’M Locked Up…They Won’t Let Me Out!

Akon, a renowned musician, famously released the song “Locked Up” in 2004. The song sparked significant controversy due to Akon’s criminal history. Akon portrayed himself as someone with a serious criminal background to connect with his audience. However, the very people he sought to relate to now scrutinized his past and turned against him. When researching the song, this is one of the first things that comes to mind. People tend to judge others, and Akon realized that they can trap you in your past. Hopefully, this serves as a valuable lesson.

I want to be honest with you all. I originally had a different direction in mind for this devotional, but the Holy Spirit redirected me. Instead, HE led me to address something we all struggle with: our past.

Just like Akon, many of us have had controversies in our past lives. Some people refuse to let you live down who you once were, and even worse, sometimes you won’t allow yourself to move past it. This is a struggle so many of us around the world face: our past decisions, our pain, our mistakes, and our hurt.

Because of this, we live in a world that constantly tries to remind us of who we used to be. So we bury those memories deep inside, while outwardly moving through life as if everything is fine. Eventually, we become trapped in an internal struggle while presenting a polished exterior.

This is not how our Heavenly Father designed us to live. We were never meant to struggle inwardly while pretending outwardly that all is well. The Heavenly Father has called you to a higher purpose and to a new life:

Acts 5:18-20 (NIV) 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

Just as the disciples—now apostles—were called to a higher purpose and a new life, you are too. The religious leaders of that time looked at the apostles as “unschooled and ordinary men,” yet those same men stood boldly before them, courageously proclaiming the name of the Lord Jesus.

Even as I write this, I am uncomfortable confronting hidden truths about myself. I am someone who was once a boisterous liar, schemer, fornicator, deceiver, adulterer, selfish, self-absorbed, and self-centered—yet here I am now, proclaiming the name of the Lord Jesus. These are not even the deepest or darkest parts of my past, but I am grateful for the restoration of my life through the Lord Jesus.

We all have a past that we’ve locked ourselves inside of, but we can rejoice in knowing that the Heavenly Father has freed us from the prison of our past. Just as HE freed the apostles, HE has freed us. The Heavenly Father did not free you from your past for your comfort—HE did it for HIS will, so that you might share and testify to HIS goodness.

The apostles were commanded to go “and tell the people all about this new life.” You are called to do the same. As uncomfortable as it may be, you must not compromise the Word of the Heavenly Father. Your testimony will help free someone else, just as HE has freed you.

Next Step:

Your testimony isn’t meant to keep you comfortable, it’s meant to bring glory to God and freedom to someone else through the new life HE’s given you. What part of your past are you still allowing to define you, even though God has already set you free from it? 

God bless you, God keep you. God loves you and I love you too!