God Breaking the Chains of Our Difficulties
When God Breaks the Chains You may feel trapped, but you're not beyond His reach.
SCRIPTURE “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.” — Psalm 107:13–16 (NIV)
Have you ever felt stuck? Not physically stuck, but stuck in a season of life you can't seem to get out of.Maybe it's a situation you never expected to find yourself in. A relationship that has become difficult. A financial burden that feels impossible to overcome. A struggle you've been carrying for so long that you've started wondering if things will ever change. You pray. You wait. You try to figure things out. And yet, nothing seems to move. Sometimes the hardest part isn't even what we're going through. It's the feeling that there's no way out. I think we've all experienced moments when life feels a little like that. And if we're not careful, we can begin to believe that because we can't see a way forward, there must not be one.
But Psalm 107 reminds us of something we desperately need to remember. Just because you can't see a way out doesn't mean God hasn't already made one. I love how this passage begins."Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble..." It doesn't say they had everything figured out. It doesn't say they finally got their act together or came up with a plan that would fix everything. They cried out. That's it. And God heard them. There's something so comforting about knowing that we don't have to have all the right words when we come to God. We don't have to pretend we're stronger than we are. We don't have to clean everything up before asking Him for help. Sometimes all we have left is a desperate prayer."Lord, I need You." And that's enough to bring our trouble before Him. But here's what really stands out to me. The passage says God brought them out of darkness and broke away their chains. Not loosened them. Not made them a little more comfortable. He broke them.
I wonder how often we settle for simply learning to live with things God wants to free us from. We get so used to carrying the weight that we forget what it feels like to walk without it. Maybe it's fear that keeps us from taking the next step. Maybe it's guilt from something in our past. Maybe it's bitterness we've held on to for years. Or maybe it's the need to control every detail because trusting God with the unknown feels terrifying. Over time, those things can begin to feel normal. We adjust our lives around them. We learn how to function while carrying them. And sometimes, without even realizing it, we stop asking God to change anything because we've convinced ourselves this is just how life is going to be.
But what if it doesn't have to stay that way? What if the very thing you've accepted as permanent is something God is asking you to surrender? I think one of the greatest struggles we face is believing that God's power is greater than the circumstances right in front of us. We know He's powerful. We read about His miracles. We sing about His faithfulness. We encourage other people to trust Him. But when it's our situation, our family, our unanswered prayer, or our impossible circumstances, believing can feel a whole lot harder. I know it does for me sometimes.
It's easy to talk about trusting God when everything is going well. It's another thing entirely when you're standing in front of what feels like an iron gate, wondering how in the world you're ever going to get through it.And that's why verse 16 is so powerful. "For he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron." Think about that picture for a moment. Bronze gates. Iron bars. These weren't things someone could simply push aside. They were designed to keep people in and keep others out. They represented strength, security, and barriers that couldn't easily be overcome. Yet none of those things were stronger than God. What looks impossible from our side of the gate is not impossible for the God standing on the other side.
Now, does that mean every difficult circumstance will disappear the moment we pray? No. Sometimes God changes our circumstances. Sometimes He changes us while we're walking through them. And sometimes the freedom He gives us begins long before the situation itself changes. But none of that means He's absent. His timing may not look like ours. His answer may not come the way we imagined. And His work may be happening in places we can't see yet. Still, we can trust that He hasn't forgotten us. There's one more thing I don't want us to miss. After describing God's deliverance, the psalmist calls the people to give thanks for His unfailing love.
I find that beautiful. Because the story doesn't end with broken chains. It ends with gratitude. The people are reminded to look back and recognize the One who brought them through. And maybe that's something we need to do more often. Remember the prayers God has already answered. The doors He's already opened. The strength He gave us when we didn't think we could take another step. The moments when we thought we wouldn't make it, but somehow, by His grace, we did. Those memories matter. They remind us that the God who was faithful then is still faithful now. So whatever you're facing today, don't allow the size of the obstacle to convince you that God is powerless against it. Keep praying. Keep trusting. Keep bringing Him the things you can't fix on your own. And if you've grown so accustomed to the weight you're carrying that you've stopped believing anything could change, maybe today is the day to start asking again.
Because the God who breaks bronze gates and cuts through iron bars is still at work. And no matter how long you've been standing in front of that gate, your story isn't over just because you haven't seen it open yet.GOING
DEEPER
1. Have I become so accustomed to carrying something that I've stopped asking God to bring healing, freedom, or change? What would surrendering it to Him actually look like?
2. When I look back at the difficult seasons God has already brought me through, what do they remind me about His faithfulness in the situation I'm facing today?