Caught in the Grip of a Curse

 Read: Deuteronomy28:15-20

Have you ever had that feeling of dread, that something bad is going to happen?  It’s like this dark looming cloud is forming far off in the distance, you can see it and you know it is coming your way. 

When my two oldest children were young, we loved camping!  Experiencing nature by immersing ourselves in it was a grand experience.  We shared walks in the woods, roasting smores over the campfire, sleeping in tents in the rain, swinging in the hammock.  

One summer in the 1980’s, we decided to take our 1970’s Apache Popup Camper to the beach. No, not in Florida or North Carolina, but at a State Park in the “Thumb” of Michigan. My son, Ben, was just a baby.  It was a beautiful location, and our camp site was only a short distance from the sandy beach of Lake Huron.  We walked the beach shoreline, taking in the beauty of it all.  The sound of the waves, watching the boats sailing out on the water, some small fishing boats and some large freighters off in the distance.  The skyline was a hazy blue and gray and the air was heavy with humidity. It was glorious.

Then suddenly, there was a shift in the wind.  As we looked over the horizon of the lake, we could see a line of dark clouds forming.  The wind grew stronger.  The clouds over the horizon turn from dark gray to a dark, ominous green, and the wind was charging them closer and closer. 

Watching the dark green clouds form over the lake and overtake our campground that day was surreal.  It was like a curse was coming.  As people started fleeing the beach and the boats desperately tried to escape the grip of the storm, I felt dread.  Where were we going to go to escape this? 

We rush back to our camper.  I sat with my infant son on the floor of the camper while the gale force winds, the hail and the rain swept through our campground, and my husband look for a safer place for us.  After 30 grueling minutes, we found a family in the campground who has a large 17 foot 5^th Wheel Camper who was willing to welcome us in for some hot cocoa while we weathered out the rest of the storm.

Since the time of Adam and Eve, we have all been under a curse.  We can see its effects in the news, in our streets, our workplaces, our homes and in ourselves.  The storms of life surround us on every side; job losses, broken relationships, addiction, disease, violence, abuse.  These ominous clouds of life overshadow us, leaving us with feelings of fear, dread and hopelessness.

Galatians 3:10 and 13 tells us:

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

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