Seventeen-year old Shirin arrived at Afghanistan’s Heart Regional Hospital with 90 percent of her body covered in third-degree burns. The official story given to hospital staff was that Shirin had suffered a cooking accident. Later in private, however, the teenager told doctors that she had set herself aflame.
Sadly, such acts are not rare. Many young Afghan women feel powerless and isolated. French nurse Marie- Jose Brunel explains their predicament: “She [feels she] is here only to wash, to clean, to give baby . . . and nothing more.” Trapped in a culture where they have no voice, women take drastic measures to escape.
The sensation of being trapped, confined, and bound, with no way of wresting free, is a horrible, suffocating sensation. The Scripture describes the devil as one who works to ensnare all of God’s people and all of God’s creation. The devil’s work always results in some form of bondage: a father compulsively driven to achieve corporate prestige or to pad his reputation, a mother consumed with image—hers and her family’s. Some people are addicted to heroin, but others are addicted to religious perfection. In each case, we’re trapped. And eventually, we will all find ourselves desperate to be free.
The devil is the “father of lies” (John 8:44), and his traps showcase his many ways of twisting the truth. Our way to be free, then, is to “learn the truth,” to see the false promises we have believed and the false hopes we have nurtured for what they are: lies that ensnare (2 Timothy 2:25-26).
And the truth we are to learn is not primarily facts or ideas, but a person— Jesus, for He is “the truth” (John 8:32). His name literally means God saves. This is an affirmation that He has already provided for our escape.
More:
I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent (2 Cor.11:3).
Next:
Where do you feel trapped—and what lies are associated with your situation? How does Jesus’ truth unveil these lies?
Debrinconcita on December 7, 2010 at 1:10 am
I feel so bad about this. Especially when some people here in the USA know nothing of real troubles in a country that you can not change. We have so much FREEDOM and we take it for Granted so much. When their are numerous people around the world suffering for their Religious beliefs, their parents and their families Rules that will never change ever in this life.
unclegene on December 7, 2010 at 10:35 am
To prevent all of us from being trapped by Satan similar to the Afghan girl, we must put on the full armor of God every morning. Ephesians 6:10-18
afia on December 7, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Dont judge her, many people in the US are in the same predicatment. I understand where she’s coming from, i feel trapped by the chains of prestige and opinions of others, i can’t even leave the house for fear of making someone look bad, because i am not how the family expected me to turn out. So i want to do something else with my life that isn’t in the PLAN and people freakout, Your trapped, i’d probably set myself on fire too, if I didn’t know Jesus, who wants to be somewhere where people FORCE you to be a mother and houseslave I mean, it’s one thing if it’s honored and you understand that, but to feel trapped in the house with no escape, especially with miserable people I can’t understand her pain. being in an abusive household where the peopleon the inside think they are correct and everyone else is wrong, they wont let you fellowship with others or do anything that doesn’t fit in their little controlled box or what THEY think is acceptable its maddning, so I just don’t do anything because why try only to have someone snatch you back with a leash to your miserable life. Thanks.
winn collier on December 7, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Afia, I pray Jesus releases you from your chains.
winn collier on December 15, 2010 at 10:13 pm
Mimi, I think that is something you would need to decide between you and God. If it’s a desire and there don’t seem to be compelling reasons why not, then go for it.
winn collier on December 14, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Hi, Mimi, Scripture doesn’t have anything to say about that, so far as I know.