Not threatened by the cage
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 12:00AM 
My good friend, John, received a word-picture for me, a vision, while I was using the bathroom.
Several years ago, we were meeting at our favorite breakfast place, and I had shared with him how confused and stuck I was feeling. I wanted to move forward in my calling, but didn't know how. The confusion had whipped itself into a white-out snowstorm and the car I was driving didn't have windshield wipers. I felt like I had just blindly veered off the shoulder into a ditch, unable to get leverage or traction: the wheels where spinning and spitting, with no hope of forward motion.
My friend, John, is not one who casually says he's received a vision for someone. He's cautious about making such declarations, while listening for anything valid in what he might be hearing. Here's what he said when I returned from the Men's Room:
Jim, how trapped do you feel? [Which immediately caught me off-guard. I wasn't even aware that I was feeling trapped.] Then he revealed the word-picture God had given him for me:
I see Aslan. He's caged. But he's not threatened by the cage. He is struggling with patience... pacing.Jim -- he's still Aslan, regardless of the cage.
I started crying. Through this tailor-made imagery, God was conferring upon me an identity both noble and fierce; and revealing that the lion's identity wasn't limited or defined by the cage. Further, any sense of condemnation was absent: rather than scolding me for feeling limited and impatient, God indicated that he understood my frustration and impatience.
What are your 'cages' and what is God saying to you despite them?
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Related video: Kingdom of Nobles
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Reader Comments (7)
Just saw this new post, and I got a lump in my throat remembering. It is amazing to me what God did for you there, and it is also is hugely encouraging. I think I have not revisited my journals enough. Strength comes from remembering who God is, and therefore who we are. Don't forget to shake your mane before you sit down to dinner this weekend.
"Shake your mane...." I love it, John. That day was a awakening for me, and a direct word from God, in a way I needed and could hear. Many thanks for walking with me.
Hey Jim,
Great post. Thanks for sharing your experience. Religion would tell us that we should enjoy the cage and then if we do God would move you to a bigger and better cage :D If we are impatient with the cage then we are unenlightened, relbellious jerks...
I can relate very well with what you're saying.
Meredith :0)
Hey Meredith -- Yeah -- instead of 'cage,' they call it 'accountability' and 'covering.' Which really means control and shame.
Ha ha Jim,
Yes, covering...that word makes me want to gag. I think covering is interchangable with smothering. And as you say, it comes from an erroneous belief about our hearts. Any sign that we are blooming or are free is a sign of rebellion. I am so happy to be free!
Meredith :0)
There is no substitute for hearing from the father of our spirit is there? Most who have read the scriptures have come across numerous accounts pointing directly to the greater One in us as us, for example, where our brother Paul says: I Paul the prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ, not the prisoner of Rome or of his circumstances or situations, but of Christ!
I see so clearly the need to come to that place you came to Jim, over and over again where in we come to hear directly for ourselves from Him, the Father of our spirit, discovering afresh the continued unfolding revelation of who and whose we are!
Hi Richard -- thanks for the insights here. There is no substitute for hearing direct counsel from God. There are simply things we can tell us that won't come from anywhere else. He can use Balaam's Ass, but would prefer to speak to us directly!