Growing up, we used to stay out late playing in the neighborhood.

I know! Kids actually played outside! At night! Until we were exhausted! Some nights it was Ghost in the Graveyard. Other nights it was Kick the Can. Still, other nights, we simply climbed trees and stayed out talking about anything and everything.

One of the favorite games we played in the neighborhood was, “Guns.” There were a lot of kids in our neighborhood. Me and my two younger brothers would go knock on doors to get everyone gathered up. Each kid would bring their toy gun. Some would make noises and some wouldn’t. That was ok because it simply meant that the shooting noise would simply be made with our mouth.

Once we got everyone gathered, it was time to pick teams. The three Ruth boys would always be on one team. And we’d have a few more to pick. Once teams were set, each team would part their ways and find their home base. Once each team had their base, the game was on.

It. Was. A. Blast. We felt like we were hunting the enemy. We’d crawl on the ground from bush to bush. We’d hide in unlocked cars that weren’t our parents. Hiding under front porches that weren’t our homes was just fine too. Then, once the enemy walked by, we’d jump out and… “Pew” “Pew” “Pew.” Ok, that’s not actually the sound I would make… that’s impossible to type here. But we’d jump out and shoot the enemy, then take them back to our base because it just happened to be a flesh wound and not a shot to the head.

During more times than not, out base was our garage that was behind our house and opened up to the alley. It wasn’t attached to our house, and it had windows on three sides. Once we had the captured enemy at our base, the interrogation began.

Where are your teammates?

Where are they hiding?

Where is your base?

Unfortunately for this enemy combatant, he didn’t feel like answering. So, like any smart (and cold-hearted) soldier, we took his handcuffs off (he was handcuffed with his hands in the back), and placed them back on so that his hands were in front of him. Now you might think we were being nice. You would be wrong. We did that so that he could raise his hands above his head.

This wasn’t a move of generosity. No. We needed to be able to hook his handcuffed hands to the garage door. You might be thinking we didn’t want him to escape when we left to find the other enemies. Again, you’d be wrong. You see, we asked him very specific questions. Easy questions. Questions he refused to answer. So to get him to tell us where his base was, we hooked his handcuffed hands to the garage and began to slowly lift the garage door up.

“Where’s your base?” No answer? Ok. Raise the garage door. “Where’s your base?” Nothing again? Ok. We raised it again. This kid’s feet were nearly five feet off the ground before he told us where his base was. After he told us, we lowered the garage door but kept him hooked up until we were able to confirm it was true. Once we did, we took the base and won that game.

That kid didn’t speak to us for some time. But it was worth it, we won that game. And when we captured someone else and asked where their base was, they answered right away after that game.

Looking back on those times is fun. We didn’t really hurt anyone… badly. But remembering stories like this gets me thinking a little bit…

You see, this kid could have been released from the handcuffs right away if he would have simply answered the questions we had for him. How many times in my life have I handcuffed myself by the decisions I’ve made. Because I’ve been stubborn. Because I’ve been selfish. Because I wanted things my way. Sometimes, we handcuff ourselves in life. Sometimes it’s our fault. Handcuffs like when we fight with our spouse or our children.

We’ve all handcuffed ourselves at some point or another. But the beautiful thing is, as long as you have breath, you still have a chance to remove those handcuffs by God’s grace. While people may give up on us, God never will. He can free us from the handcuffs we’ve placed on our own wrists when we place our faith and trust in Him.

“He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness and broke away their chains.” Psalm 107:14