Freely Speaking Audio Devotion

Welcome to Freely Speaking, an OHSOFREE devotional ministry where we share our hearts and trust God for transformation.  

Today, Sharee Gaiser challenges us to consider what comforts or habits may be quietly hindering our growth. 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV) 

Let me introduce you to my couch. It’s red leather—my favorite color—and the place where I love to curl up with a good book and let the hours slip by. Often, before I realize it, the sun is sinking low and the day is nearly gone. 

Many hours have been spent on that couch when I could have been doing other things, one of them being exercise. It’s here that my shoulds and coulds quietly dissolve into, I can’t be bothered. 

I have a love–hate relationship with exercise. My body needs it, yet I resist it with surprising creativity. While I’ve never heard a booming command from God to get up and move, I sensed a persistent nudge in my spirit. Alongside nagging pain in my body: stiff joints and lingering aches; stillness had overstayed its welcome. What my body was feeling, my spirit already knew—God was inviting me to move, not out of pressure, but out of care. 

My resistance also pointed to something deeper, revealing a habit of choosing comfort over discipline, control over trust, and avoidance over obedience. These choices promise rest or safety yet quietly limit me, both physically and spiritually. 

Hebrews 12:1 doesn’t only call us to throw off sin; it urges us to lay aside everything that hinders. God’s invitation isn’t to try harder but to run freer. Perseverance, after all, is formed through movement. 

As God gently coaxes me to move my body daily, He’s also inviting me to examine what I cling to for comfort and control. Some hindrances don’t feel heavy at all—they feel comfortable. The couch isn’t the real issue; it’s what it represents when I choose ease over obedience. 

Friends, what comfort, habit, or resistance might be quietly hindering your ability to run freely with God right now? Why not surrender it to Him? 

Thank you for joining us today. If you would like to learn more about OhSoFree Ministries, please visit us at www.ohsofreeministries.com