Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us – Hebrews 12:1
The chaotic scene comes on the heels of a prisoner’s escape, narrated by the inmate’s friend, known as Red. “In 1966, Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank Prison. All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer…near worn down to the nub. I remember thinking it would take a man 600 years to tunnel through the wall. Andy did it in less than 20…Geology is the study of pressure and time. That’s all it takes, really, pressure and time.”
The opening is from The Shawshank Redemption that underscores the key ingredients to breaking free. Not only from behind prison walls, as the fictional story depicts, but also from other forms of confinement, such as addictions and harmful lifestyles. It’s an unwillingness to continue carrying the overwhelming weight of an unnecessary burden and a commitment to securing freedom from it, no matter how long it takes.
The saying, “There is no such thing as a free lunch,” applies to breaking free from bondage, which requires dedication and perseverance. Both can become too hard to manage on your own. But not so when God is included.