Journey to Freedom - Part One

written by Kylea Bitoka

“The World IS Ending”

I texted dramatically—only half-joking—because as I watch the news unfold around me, shootings, bombs dropped, families separated, children starving, compassion vilified, and laws to protect human rights rolled back–I see injustice and oppression multiply across the globe.

And what is the American church doing in the midst of this?

 Preaching about how empathy is toxic.
Gleefully watching protections for the poor being stripped away. Content in self-righteousness, proclaiming God’s judgment on everyone else, and hoarding his grace for themselves.

And God... how do You watch this happen?
How long will you let them use your name to justify hate?

The Fourth of July is approaching, and I can’t help but ask—is there anything worth celebrating in a country that continuously fails to live up to its ideals? 

I’m beginning to understand every villain who wanted to destroy the world.

We don’t seem to understand the value of lives that don’t match ours. And maybe—just maybe—it should all burn.

Does God see?

Then the verse of the day landed me in Psalm 77.

The psalmist is crying out, distressed by what he sees, asking:

7 “Will the Lord reject forever?
Will He never show His favor again?
8 Has His unfailing love vanished forever?
Has His promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has He in anger withheld His compassion?”

And then, a shift:

10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years when the Most High stretched out His right hand.
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago.
12 I will consider all Your works
and meditate on all Your mighty deeds.”

The author laments. The author questions.
And then, he remembers.

It’s interesting: when he cries out to God, this thought just seems to pop into his head. Or maybe it’s the Spirit reminding him who God is.

The answer to despair?
To remember.

To remember the deliverance of God.
To reflect on who He is, based on what He’s done. All of the promises that have been fulfilled. That remembering leads to praise.

As I read on, through Psalm 78,  the author recounts how God delivered Israel and led His people out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land. It was a journey. No longer slaves, but not yet fully free.

The people's hearts were revealed in the harshness of the wilderness, and so was God’s character.

The transformation didn’t happen overnight. Becoming a people of God—living that calling—was a process. Along that journey, they built memorials to remember and celebrate. They physically marked the times they faltered, the moments God provided, the grace and mercy they received in the desert. 

Once settled in the promised land, the journey continued as they wrestled through relationships with God, each other, and foreigners. Even in the promised land, reconciliation was incomplete; they needed a Messiah to make it right. 

So, this history and hope were passed on from generation to generation. The younger generations experienced the fulfillment of promises the older ones had only dreamed about.

At Threaded, we say: Reconciliation is not an endpoint; it’s a series of arrivals.

Every step builds on the one before. 

America won her independence—it was a first stepping stone.
It cast a vision of freedom and justice, setting a course.
But freedom for whom?

The Civil War was another step as the nation wrestled with its ideals.
Juneteenth stands on the shoulders of those moments.
And the Civil Rights Movement continues to build upon it.

For every "end," the next phase of the journey begins.

The Fourth of July could be a moment to hold space for the achievements and the failures.
We lament the losses, the terror, the injustice.
We honor the sacrifices.
We celebrate the progress.

Knowing it has brought us here.

We hold hope for what we don’t yet see.

The Fourth of July can be a celebration of the dream and the journey.
We have arrived in one version, but this is not the final destination.