An excerpt from Break Your Invisible
Chains by Brandon Telg, Dr. Jaron Jones, & Carly Barnes...
"Whether you’ve been to a circus with
loved ones or seen a circus act on TV, I’m sure you remember seeing beautiful gigantic
elephants performing tricks for the crowd. Children are laughing and families
are enjoying themselves, but did you ever stop to think why these enormous
animals stay within the confines of the circus tent?
Elephants are built to
uproot trees using only their trunk, yet these circus elephants never try to
leave. Elephants in their natural habitat would break free from their
bondage and roam as they pleased. So why don’t these circus elephant simply
walk out of the circus? It’s not like anyone would be able to stop them easily.
The reason why circus elephants don’t escape is that they believe in false
limitations. They believe in invisible chains. This belief of bondage
begins when these huge elephants are babies, barely able to walk on their own.
Each circus hires elephant trainers that take
these baby elephants and systematically force them to
believe that they can never escape. To accomplish this, trainers
will first take a baby elephant, when it is most vulnerable,
out of captivity and into the circus environment. The trainer then takes a huge
metal clasp and tightly closes it around the baby elephant’s ankle. That ankle
clasp is then affixed to a heavy metal chain, which is hammered into the ground
using a thick metal stake. It is at that very moment that the baby elephant’s
instincts kick in. It tells itself that something is terribly wrong and it
must break free.
The baby elephant notices that it is attached
to this contraption and tugs at the chain, panicking as it realizes it cannot escape.
An instantaneous tantrum occurs because the baby elephant knows that this
bondage is not normal. The baby elephant tries to run. But it can’t. It gets
snapped back by the chain. The elephant tries to escape again. It can’t. The
baby elephant knows it’s not supposed to be
chained down and that it is built to roam the lands. The baby elephant
knows that the circumference of a circus tent is not where its story ends. So
for two weeks, this baby elephant fights with all of its will, with all of its
might, to escape from this chain, because it knows its truth.
After two weeks, this baby elephant becomes tired, frustrated, and defeated. Its will has been
broken. With a bloodied ankle, this baby elephant now feels it can never move
beyond the distance of this metal clasp and chain. This baby elephant is stuck.
Fast-forward 10 years: this baby
elephant has grown to weigh over 6,000 pounds! Even though it is a massive and majestic
animal, the circus elephant forever believes it is trapped within the circus
tent. Now the trainers only need to tie a small woven rope around its ankle, just tight enough
for the elephant to feel its pressure. When the fully grown elephant senses
this rope, it
believes it is still that same baby elephant. It doesn't know that
it can break free. The elephant is bound by invisible chains."
Reflection:
1) What invisible chains have falsely claimed victory in your life? 2) What stories cause you to feel "pressure" and temps you to believe you are bound?
We were made in the likeness of God to believe and have those beliefs "bring forth" into the world. He is passionate about us and will not take that likeness of Himself away from us, even if what we are believing is producing the fruit of death (hurt and pain) in our lives.
Like an abused and confused animal, we can sometimes be limited in what we see and even lash out on anyone and anything that attempts to come near us, especially near our wounds or our hurt. When we are like this we are essentially afraid for our lives. We are in a state of conditioning to believe that our life is in danger, that we need to find ways to preserve ourselves, lest we be found naked, ashamed, and ultimately without life (the life we innately feel and know we were destined to have). Your Father can show you that He is not the same as the darkness in this world, that He won't hurt you, that he does not cause death, that he will handle you with love, light, and life, like a newborn, delicately, and that you can trust Him to clothe you with His life.
We may often feel saddened of the condition that we find ourselves in. He is not condemning you for having been held captive or deceived by something deceptively dark and treacherous (satan and his lies in this world). He sees exactly how you have been hurt and wants to carry you through the healing process in his arms. He understands that this world is the valley of the shadow of death and with his compassion He wants you to be persuaded and convinced so that you are set free in believing that He alone is your salvation and your gateway into an invincible and never ending life filled with no more pain, hurt, and death but love and joy. He wants his love to resurrect you out of the grave.
At any given moment you can look to the Father. He is always ready to embrace you. You will see your likeness in God and He will see His likeness in you. This is the glory of God. You are created with beauty. Let yourself accept this as truth to the convincing of your soul. Sink into it, just like you let yourself fall into a deep sleep. Be submersed. May your mind and inner being be illuminated with the union of His life, that the person who created the universe chooses to unite himself with you, freely and willingly! Let yourself experience his presence like good wine. Let God experience you and you experience God, bodily. This will help you see and believe the truth of who you really are: a significant and substantial being meant to experience that true life (that was in the Father) on earth and eternity with happiness in your heart.
"The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
Luke 4:18-19
"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." -2 Cor. 3:17
Source: http://frank.jou.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/booksample.pdf
