What You Don't See

My daughter-in-law and I were traveling by car on a rural road outside of Kozhencherry, Kerala, India, when suddenly in front of us loomed a full-sized adult elephant, munching on greenery on the edge of this jungle road. Our breath was taken away and Nicole squealed, “Aaaah! Oh my goodness! A wild elephant!"He was an impressive sight. But while he appeared at first to us to be roving free and wild, after getting out of the car to have a better look (we kept our distance), we spotted a chain around his ankle that secured him to a tree. He was a work animal, used on site to pull logs and other heavy burdens. In Kerala, a beautiful tropical southern state in India, elephants are like cattle. They are native to the region, but most in the area we visited were domesticated. Could you imagine having a pet elephant?Once home I decided to make the elephant appear more natural in his jungle habitat by Photoshopping the chain out of one of the pictures. And I was successful. But despite no visible sign of a shackle, you can still tell the animal was chained to a tree. As you look at the above picture, you can see by the unnatural bend of his rear leg that something was holding him back. The chain may not be visible, but its effect is very much so.This applies to so many things in life. We saw it in northern India where the Hindu caste system is supposedly no longer in place. But it’s effect is quite obvious. The miles of destitute poverty in the heart of Kolkata was like the unnatural bend of the elephant’s leg, hundreds of thousands of people who have been severely kept back in life by the destructive shackles of an oppressive religious system. The people living on the street were all the remnants of a lower caste.And then I consider similar Photoshopped chains in my own life and those around me. The things we are careful to keep others from seeing. And yet they see the effects. Our insecurities, angry outbursts, gossip, judgmentalism, critical spirit, severed relationships, etc., are all just the bent leg of the elephant. There are things we hide from others, but the effects of our sin are still quite obvious.I left India recognizing the real need that my Indian brothers and sisters have emphasized time and again, the Gospel. The Indian people, like Americans, Europeans, Asians, and every people group on earth, need Jesus. Because while we are good with Photoshop, we can’t really erase the core problem that is the cause behind our human condition. Jesus is the answer…the only answer. But he is the real answer! And when Jesus erases the shackles of sin, he restores life and freedom.He wants to do that for you. Will you let him?