Walking into the Keys to Freedom course I didn’t know what to expect. I knew it was an eight week course and that we needed a workbook. Other than that, I knew I was just going to turn up.
The plan as usual on the Wednesday night courses is that we would all meet first and share a meal together. This part is my favourite part as there is something about sitting and eating a meal with people that just makes the day that little bit better. We would have the opportunity to discuss our day or week over delicious food that helped us unwind from the day and reset us in the loving presence of each other.
The first week was a little like a training conference where we all sat listening to who Mercy UK was and what the course we were about to undertake was about. I am not sure this really conveyed what we would be doing exactly but the format for the following week was changed and the changes did make it better.
Once the meal was over in the second week, the men went to their space and the women to theirs. As we were all unsure as to what we should have been doing from the previous week, some of us had completed the workbook for week one, others had done some of the workbook, others had not even started. So, at this point it was decided that we would have an extra week and restart the course. Let me tell you, when it started, we actually got somewhere and we saw people come alive.
The purpose of the course is to enable us to live in fullness and wholeness with God. I found that at certain things I am acting or responding in a certain way, and that way may not always be the right way. Acting in anger or in hurt or greed will have an impact on the way we form our relationships with each other and also with God. This course gives you the tools to recognise those actions and get to the root cause of them, and not only to recognise but to challenge it and heal from it.
The course gives us the tools that can be found in scripture, to hear God in our lives and feel His presence. Each week, we would talk over the week previously with no pressure. If you want to share what you have been working through that week then you were given the space to open up and speak in a supportive place where no one would judge. If you didn’t say a word at all through the whole course that is also ok.
Learning what my behaviours are and why I have those behaviours and then working on the root cause of that so I can change the behaviour from a negative one to a positive one has freed me from not only repeating the failings of my past but also meant that I no longer believe the lies about myself that I have been believing for so long.
One of the underlying principles of the bible and what Jesus taught us is forgiveness. One of the large themes within the course is forgiveness. Choosing to forgive and healing from the hurts of life are things that affect everyone. This course goes through these in detail in weeks 4 and 5.
This course is not easy. If you do this correctly, you will feel all the feelings, you may cry, sob and shout, you will have breakthrough, you will breathe a little easier, you will feel lighter, you will have peace, and most importantly, you will be closer than you have ever been to God.
Life will always happen, but with the tools this course gives you will help you navigate the rest of your life in love and in partnership with God. This is a course that I will go back to again and again because there is so much more to do and with God’s grace and help I will find myself and know that I am His.
