Questions to Ponder...

As I awoke I heard the words of Proverbs 3:5-6 running through my mind…


Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.


This makes we wonder…


In what ways will I need to trust God whole heartedly today?

What of my own understanding should I not rely upon?

In what unrecognized ways will I need to acknowledge – know God today?

What part of my journey does He want to straighten out?


Lord, have your way. Make me more sensitive to you and your ways and less sensitive to me and my ways. Grant me the faith and trust required for this day. Help me to rely more on you and less on me. Please allow me to know you, your ways, your heart, your mind and lead on the path you have laid out for me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

A New Look

With all my posts on “Change” and “Letting Go” I decided it was time for a new look to Emancipation of the Freed. Even though I found a few new templates that I really liked, none of them would work with the New Blogger. Instead, I decided to modify my current template by adding a bit of color.

So, what do you think?

A Visual Lesson In Letting Go

Holding on tight causes tension and restricts freedom

Letting go may mean losing or

having to give something up you love

Letting go means risk and allowing things to exist as they were truly meant to be

© Tom Zawacki 2007

Freedom's Flight

Freedom’s Flight

Freedom soars amid the clouds
Wind stretched wings broad
With exhilarating peacefulness
And the security of joy

In here I see the unseen
And know the Unknown One
Impossibilities evaporate
In the passion of His love

For tomorrow’s mysteries
I have not a care
Each chapter’s been recorded
By the One who gave me wings to fly
And faith for freedom’s journey

With open eyes and pounding heart
I step from the ledge of reason
Into a realm of His design
And the purpose of my being

Yes, I can fly…

© Tom Zawacki 2007

Flying

A couple of posts inspired me this morning; LL & Shadraq, life giving and insightful as usual. They made me think… Concerning my spiritual journey…

Where am I?
Where do I want to be?
How do I get from here to there?

Shadraq’s post made me realize that I am what I eat and challenged me to consider my spiritual diet. What have I been feeding on? What do I consume on a regular basis? Is it life giving or life draining? Am I light-er for the feeding or heavy laden?

LL’s post challenged me to resist what’s safe and expected and normal. If I’m created to live a Spirit empowered supernatural life then… What risks of faith lie before me? How do I view the edge, as friend or foe? Do I fear falling or am I eager to fly? As I approach my 50’s am I looking for a plateau to settle down or are my eyes fixed upon the summit?

The winds of change are indeed blowing. I feel it upon my face and sense it within my soul. I can hear the Spirit say “come up higher”. It’s time to leave the safety of the ledge behind, it’s time to fly.

© Tom Zawacki 2007

The Upside of Change

Since my last post I’ve been thinking about change. Most people I know don’t like change. Inherent to change is a lack of control, thus the displeasure. In my capacity as pastor I’m usually in the position of dictating the change. Admittedly this makes dealing with change less displeasureable for me.

Coupled with the control issues change causes us to deal with our stuff. I liken it to moving. The longer we live in one location the more stuff we accumulate. As moving day draws near we're forced to decide what to do with all those precious personal items we’ve stored away in our basements, closets, attics and garages.

Disrupting those hidden areas of our lives is messy and can be exhausting. But on the upside, it can be extremely liberating. Moving into a brand new house with it’s empty closets, never before used toilets and perfectly clean garage floor feels so good! It’s parabolic of new beginnings with all the promise of never making those old familiar mistakes again. I can hear myself now… “Honey, I promise I’ll keep the garage clean this time”.

Change is inevitable; it’s coming on the wind – sent by the Father. He’s a good Dad, I can trust him. He has my best at heart. Even though I don’t completely understand it, this time I’ll embrace it... by holding lightly to the people, the possessions and the positions that have been entrusted to my care.

Dad, my hands are open, let the wind blow, amen.

© Tom Zawacki 2007

Letting Go

About a year ago I posted an article titled “The Winds of Change” The Lord revealed to me in the twilight of the morning that…

“The winds of change were coming… that I needed to hold lightly to people, possessions and positions. That my hands needed to be free to catch what was coming on the wind”

This morning I experienced the painful truth of those words. My son moved to Los Angles to pursue a film career. Now, I’ve encouraged him throughout his life to follow his dreams and I knew this day was coming; I was just caught by surprise by how painful it was.

I had somehow convinced myself that doing the right thing at the right time would somehow make letting go less painful, it didn’t. I can’t help but wonder… how painful will the next thing be?

Nadine and I are extraordinarily proud of our son. He’s talented, passionate and extremely focused. He’s got what it takes and we believe in him, he’ll do just fine. These truths numb the pain a little, but just a little. (You can read Na’s take on it all here) I pray that my hands will remain open in spite of the pain.

Father with open hands I give you everything, all my people, all my possessions and every position. But most of all, this day, I give you my son. Grant him grace and favor on this new adventure. May he find you and his destiny on the way, amen.

© Tom Zawacki 2007

This is a Test… Longevity

We are in a time of testing. God is testing us and it’s for the purpose of promotion. Three primary areas of testing in this season are Humility, Loyalty and Longevity. If humility is staying low and loyalty is staying faithful then longevity is just staying!

Longevity appears to be a major area of enemy attack. Almost everyone I know has been tempted to quit. How about you? Now, I don’t believe the enemy has the power to prevent us from reaching our destinies however, I believe he can deceive us into quitting prematurely.

In Galatians 6:9 St. Paul exhorts us to “…not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” The enemy’s plan is to get us to “give up” just before harvest time.

The Weight of Unfulfilled Promises
It is a difficult thing to carry the weight of unfulfilled promises. Many of us have been waiting a very long time on the promises of God, this has caused some to lose heart and quit. Here’s a truth… the greater the promises the greater the testing. I’ve heard John Paul Jackson say it this way “the depth of the valley is proportional to height of the mountain”.

The Tests of Longevity
The test of longevity comes when you feel like you’ve waited long enough. Here are some of the warning signs… Discouragement, Disappointment, Hopelessness and the big one… Isolation. Isolation is dangerous. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says that “Two are better than one… If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” It’s so much easier to give up when you’re all alone. These are the times we really need one another.

Passing the Test
Don’t quit, stay until God says go. Don’t quit just because it’s hard. Of course it hard, great things and new things always are. Stay until God sets you on a new path. I believe the future is awesome and each of us will have a very significant role to play if… We don’t look for a short cut, we don’t look for an easy way out and we don’t quit.

For so many it’s already been a long hard road. If this is you take inspiration from Philippians 3:13-14

“…one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”.

Father have mercy on us. Set us free from the past. Give us eyes to see the goal, our destinies in Christ. Grant us the grace we need to pass these tests. Pour out your Spirit upon us so that we do not grow weary in doing good. Make us Humble and make us Loyal for as long as it takes. Amen.

© Tom Zawacki 2007

Art Credit: Longevity by Jane Bellows