A fiery sun hangs in the sky near Mount Tabor in Israel. From that mountain, Deborah sent Barak and his troops into battle with these words:

Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera [your oppressor] into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you? (Judges 4:14)

Gazing on that misty mountain, can you see anything in your own life that’s been sitting there in front of you, out of focus and almost hidden?

Take your time. Let God speak deeply into your spirit. Let him identify any oppressor he is giving into your hands today. You may think first of people. Ah, but the real oppressors, whether operating from within you or from within someone else, are spirit.

Sometimes, we can identify them based on the way they oppress. Their names include (but are not limited to): Fear. Addiction. Greed. Rejection. Resentment. Lust. Denial. Control. Pride.

Barak and his people had been cruelly oppressed for 20 years. When they cried out to the Lord, he delivered them. But Barak could not just sit back and experience God’s deliverance. He had to face down what had continually defeated him, in order to see the Lord’s victory over it. He had to go out against a daunting army in God’s timing, at God’s command.

You may have been overcome for years by cruel oppressors. You may have thought that’s how you have to live the rest of your life. It’s not.

The first step toward freedom is this: Cry out to the Lord. Cry out to the one whose name, Jesus, means Salvation. Call on the one who speaks Spirit-to-spirit to all who are his.

The second step is harder, but just as crucial: Face down each oppressor God identifies, in the time and way he specifies. When your Lord summons you, rise up. When he announces the victory, step out in his name toward that thing that has robbed and shackled you for so long.

Believe the Spirit of God when he speaks into your spirit:

This is the day the Lord has given your oppressor into your hands.

Hear as he identifies that oppressor by name.

Know: The Lord himself has gone ahead of you. Look to him. And at his call, go!