“You have no idea what you have unleashed.” Erika Kirk
I inadvertently watched most of Erika Kirk’s address to the nation on Friday night after her husband’s tragic death. She was articulate and passionate in the way she honored him and remembered him. She spoke life-giving words to his mission, to his movement and to the future work she would relentlessly dedicated herself to for Turning Point to continue.
It’s obvious that not everyone agrees with Kirk’s expressed opinions or even with his open mic efforts to engage people of opposing ideologies in civil conversation, and this post is definitely not a political opinion. But his death and all that has happened has given me a lot to think about in my own life. And somehow the word Erika used in her message…the word “unleashed” has resonated with me and won’t let me go. It simply reached out from that mass of her words and landed heavily in my mind as a very impactful verb I needed to ponder.
So…unleashed. What a powerful word – we can all conjure up mental pictures of something – object or creature – being unleashed and what follows. We can go to great good – the Gospel of Jesus Christ unleashed on the world after his death and resurrection. And we can go to great evil – the terror unleashed on so many presently in our world under power-hungry dictators and corrupt governments. Whichever way we go, there is no denying it is a powerful verb in our language. The French don’t even have a word for it – only the word to “release”, which falls far short of the full meaning.
After much pondering, I decided the best thing I could do with this word that won’t leave me alone was to consider my personal perspective on what it means to me personally…at this stage of life. I decided it was not a word associated with the retirement years – words more like “relaxed, comfortable, chill, enjoy” seem to describe and identify our days. So what in the world could “unleash” mean…and all I can think of is what God wants to unleash in my life, even at this age, and how this verb implies so much, including power, movement, victory. All of this can be attributed to God – He is all powerful, he moves constantly in our lives, and he walks in ultimate victory.
And before I knew it, “unleash,” this word that seems to have very little meaning at this stage of life, led me to think of “radical” – another word not much associated with retirement. And God’s thoughts began to tumble into my brain…let me “unleash” some radical things in your life so that you finish strong and leave a faith legacy for your family to hold on to when you’re gone.
Radical love – spend as much of my day loving others well – family, friends, strangers, odd people about town, colleagues.
Radical forgiveness – set people free from the restraints of unforgiveness which harms both parties involved.
Radical generosity – steward my time, talents and financial resources to bless others in surprising and meaningful ways.
Radical obedience – obey God above all other priorities in my life.
Be creative, be passionate, be a force for the Lord – and be unleashed!
And a last comment on the verb “libérer” in French – perhaps that’s what “unleash” really means – to finally release ourselves from the constraints we have put on ourselves, or society has put on us, so that we haven’t allowed God to “unleash” our full potential to serve him in the days we have here on earth.
Don't Waste Your Retirement 