COURAGE, BRAVEHEART

It’s dark and dank. You look down at your dirty, ragged clothes and suddenly you get a whiff of something awful. The stench is unbearable. You suddenly realize…it’s you. Your stomach churns and jumps. As you shift your gaze, you reach your face upwards, yearning to reach the small slit of a window that stretches high above you. Just one single solitary deep breath of fresh air; that’s all you want. But seeing how high it is, you realize, it’s impossible to reach. So you swallow and take a deep breath, you close your eyes and you allow yourself to get lost in a dream for a moment. To imagine you are far away from here. You drift off to a faraway place; a place that is anywhere but here in this deep and cavernous prison you find yourself in.

And as you open your eyes and look down at your hands, you suddenly realize they are adorned with the finest jewels and perfumed with the sweetest scents. Your clothes are white and airy, almost like sheer drapes hanging against your perfectly cleaned and oiled body. The scent of jasmine and orange citrus waft in through the windows as you walk the white marbled hallways. You take a deep breath in and the faint sound of birds chirping and water from a fountain give you a sense of peace. A cool breeze gently pushes your hair across your face. As you pass by a mirror, you catch a glimpse of yourself and you don’t even recognize the woman before you. Your dark hair braided and adorned with strings of gold and jewels. A gold crown furnished with jewels sits atop your perfectly coifed head and you feel the weight of it for the first time. It is heavy and you must have an authoritative posture to keep it perfectly perched in place. And you do. You have a posture that commands authority. It is confident. Assured. Head held high and proud.

Who is this girl and where did she come from? What is it that causes this kind of confidence? This kind of transformation? This way of seeing oneself? Is this girl really so different from the one in ragged clothes covered in filth who can’t breath from her own stench? No, she’s not so different. It’s the same girl inside. The girl in the prison wants this view of herself, but the mirrored image she sees before her of a royal woman keeps changing back to the girl in rags. She doesn’t want to be that girl anymore, now that she’s seen who she could be. She wants to be brought up from the prison to the palace. But how does one get there? How does one change their circumstances? Is it as simple as changing your mindset? Your perspective? Your view of yourself? Some would say it is…

If you’re a follower of Jesus, then you understand the idea of being brought from the prison to the palace. The idea of moving from a place of rags to a place of riches. This is how Jesus sees us. Not as ragged slaves, but as heirs to His Father’s kingdom. He looks past the dirt and the filth, the sin and the things hidden in the shadows and He sees the heart of who we can be in our truest and best form, the one He’s created us to be. Living and thriving. But we can only do that when we choose to partner with Him. But choose Him we must.

And when we don’t. We will continue to stay locked in that prison, staring at those concrete walls, waiting to be set free. Waiting to tap into the life He has for us. Waiting to receive the priestly position He has bestowed on each of us. Hoping that there is something greater beyond those walls. Hoping that we are made for more than rags and filth. Hoping, just hoping that life can look drastically different than the current state. But we forget. We forget who we are and more importantly, we forget WHOSE we are.

My friend, stop striving. Stop trying to do it all yourself. Stop allowing the world or other people to tell you who you are. To tell you where your identity is found. As much as I don’t like to admit it, I’ve done this for a very long time and let me tell you, it is exhausting. It is debilitating. It is a joy stealer, a dream crusher, and a hope robber. Instead of scrambling to do it all yourself, choose to place your confidence and your identity in the Lord. He is the sustainer. He is the healer. He is the fixer, He is the reason we hope, He is the place we find peace and rest, He is the joy-giver, and He is all the other things you can think of and even more things you can’t think of. He is ALL OF THAT. So if it’s not an issue with Him…then that must mean that it’s an issue with us. Right?

So how do we change our mindsets? How do we shift our perspectives? How do we view ourselves the way He views us? Well the truth is, we can’t change those things on our own. But He can help us. One thing is certain…it’s definitely not easy and it takes time and intention. It takes allowing the Lord to speak truth over you and your circumstances and it takes you actually believing and receiving those truths. It takes allowing others who love you and are led by the spirit to speak truth over you as well, and it requires a deep well of trust in the Lord. Trust in His goodness. Trust in His love for you. Trust in the plans He has for your perfectly crafted life.

And so if you’re struggling with this my friend, sit with yourself and honestly look at how you are doing in the trust department. Are you growing and thriving in your trust, or is it locked away in a deep cavernous place in your heart because you’ve been hurt before and that somehow feels safer? If you are struggling, let me tell you, it’s okay. I am too. But we have to be honest with where we are at, we have to run to the Lord, lay those trust struggles at His feet, and tell Him we’re tired. We’re broken. We need help. And we want to be taken from the prison to the palace. He is the only one who has the key to unlock the door and set you free. And He wants to. So how about you shake off the shackles and place your shaky hands into His trusting hands, and let Him lead you out of the prison and up into that palace where you can take a seat in the royal position that’s waiting for you. Because it’s yours for the taking.