THE CHAIN IS GONE — WHY ARE YOU STILL STANDING THERE?
What once held you may not be what’s holding you now.
I keep coming back to this image — a collar, a chain, no dog in sight. Just the evidence of something that once held a life in place.
Sometimes the chain isn’t what’s holding you anymore.
But something in you… never left.
DEDICATION
To the Holy Spirit — for stirring reflection and illuminating the path of a man’s life, both in what I’ve walked and what I’ve witnessed in others.
To my wife, Marty — who continues to walk these roads with me, carrying weight beside me through every season, steady and present when it mattered most.
To the reader — who may feel something here worth pausing for, and find the courage to look at their own path with fresh eyes and an open heart.
SCRIPTURE
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” — Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” — John 8:36 (NKJV)
THE HOOK
The chain is gone.
So why do you still feel it?
Why does something in you hesitate… hold back… stay within a boundary that isn’t even there anymore?
Not everything that keeps a man in place…
is still attached to him.
THE STORY
I remember seeing a photo years ago…
a dog chained to a galvanized pipe out in a field.
No shelter. No movement beyond the length of the chain. Just enough to survive.
There was water… but it wasn’t clean. Food… but not enough to live on.
Skin stretched over bone.
Still breathing… but barely living.
And I couldn’t shake the thought —
how long had it been there?
Not just starving…
but bound.
And I later learned his name…
Logan.
I’ve seen it another way too.
Marty and I were out driving one day in Bakersfield… just taking the long way through the country.
We came across a pile of what looked like someone’s life — trash, furniture, pieces left behind in a hurry.
And there… laying on a mattress in the middle of it…
was a dog.
Skinny. Worn down. Waiting.
We coaxed her into the car.
Brought her home. Fed her. Let her rest.
She was a silver pit… one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever seen.
Followed me everywhere. Stayed close.
Like she had already decided she belonged.
A couple days later…
we found the owners.
They hadn’t abandoned her.
They had been forced to leave… fast. And she had run off during it.
When they came to pick her up —
you could feel it.
That wasn’t just a dog.
That was family.
And the moment she saw them…
everything changed.
THE TURN
Some lives are chained.
Some lives are just… separated.
And sometimes…
we mistake one for the other.
THE DRIFT
There are things we carry that once made sense.
Things that taught us how to protect ourselves. How to cope. How to survive.
But time moves on…
and sometimes those patterns don’t.
The chain can be gone… and the response still there.
Like a hand that once touched a hot stove —
you don’t reach for it again.
Not because it’s still burning you…
but because it taught you once.
Old signals still firing…
in moments that no longer exist.
A man can be free…
and still live like he isn’t.
I walked the length of a chain that wasn’t there anymore.
For years.
THE REFLECTION
A man can have food on the table… a roof over his head… breath in his lungs…
and still be dying inside.
Not because he isn’t surviving —
but because something in him is still bound…
or still far from where he belongs.
We don’t always get chained by force.
Sometimes we attach ourselves…
to old wounds old thoughts old patterns old ways of coping
Things we use to steady ourselves… that eventually start steering us.
There were years I thought I was chained to my own life.
Responsibility that didn’t clock out. Outcomes tied to decisions that weren’t always mine.
The economics were good…
but the weight was constant.
Some chains don’t look like suffering.
They look like success… responsibility… or even provision.
And even now…
some days the chain looks different.
Limits I didn’t choose.
But I’ve learned this —
Not everything that keeps you still is meant to keep you bound.
Writing doesn’t feel like a chain.
It feels like space.
God doesn’t teach a man how to survive bondage.
He sets him free from it.
There was a moment in my life…
when everything shifted.
Not because I got stronger —
but because the chain was cut.
Jesus didn’t just meet me where I was…
He broke what was holding me there.
And more than that —
He brought me back to where I belonged.
I carry a pocket knife every day.
Always have.
And I’ve come to realize —
sometimes what a man needs most…
isn’t more strength.
It’s something sharp enough to cut what’s still trying to hold him.
Not everything in your life needs to be managed.
Some things need to be severed.
WALKAWAY LINE
The hardest part of freedom… is believing you don’t belong in the chain anymore.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
What are you still responding to… that no longer has the authority to hold you?
MY PRAYER
Heavenly Father,
Show me what has been cut… that I’m still living as if it remains.
Where old signals still guide me — even though truth has already set me free.
Help me see clearly what no longer belongs in my life.
And give me the courage to step fully into what does.
Sharpen me where I’ve grown dull.
And may my knife always be ready — to cut away any bondage that tries to find attachment to me.
And for the one who feels bound right now — to something they can’t seem to shake —
meet them there.
Remind them You are still the One who breaks chains.
And give them the strength to walk out of what no longer holds them.
Not just free in word — but free in how they live.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
ABOUT G~
G~ writes from lived experience — exploring identity, authority, and time through the lens of faith, trial, leadership, and surrender. His reflections are not meant to condemn or hype, but to steady. Rooted in covenant, forged through adversity, and anchored under the authority of Jesus Christ, his work invites readers to examine who governs their lives — and to live intentionally under truth.
If what you’ve read resonates with your journey, feel free to reach out.
G~
My Chains are gone 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 this is the song in my heart after reading this spark this morning. Thank you Jesus