Take the limits off!
This particular subject has been on my heart for months, 'cooking' and waiting - God has revealed to me things I MUST share! Some things I understand perfectly with my inner being, but to be able to describe it in human language with written words, can be tricky, but I'll give it a good go... It all started with a few questions one day:
- What if we were to allow OURSELVES to experience things without preconceived ideas?
- What if we could change the perception of things as they appear in our everyday life?
- What if the limits we put on ourselves are OUR OWN limits, which needn't be there?
Well, of course we all know the answer to the last question, and how our surroundings have formed us to the person we are today. The use of expression "brain washing" is perhaps too strong here, but essentially, we all understand that the outward influences, whether entering us via ear gate or eye gate, are undeniable.
As I was asking myself those "what if" questions, a picture popped into my head! A picture of a city full of tall buildings and skyscrapers, but with one weird difference: there was a vertical rusty metal rebar growing out of each street block, building corner and intersection. These rebars created a huge mesh intertwined through the city. Those individual vertical pieces were then linked with horisontal ones just above the top line of the buildings, essentially creating a huge cage! The view was beautiful but also disturbing!
I've tried using ai prompts to create an image to resemble my vision but nothing truly came close, I'll keep generating and if I come up with something better, I'll upload it here!
You know when they say that 'a picture is worth a thousand words'? Well this really did speak to me loud and clear - a huge lightbulb went off in my head!
Why are we in this collective cage?
Who built it?
Do we even know?
We had all collectively, unconsciously been building this massive 'safe framework' for/around ourselves.
But HOW?
Somehow it instantly became obvious that the 'culprit' was our tendency to compare ourselves to each other! By looking at what the other can and can't do, we essentially place ourselves into this invisible cage of what I can/can't do! It was such a huge revelation of FREEDOM it's impossible to describe here - knowing those cages don't have to be there!!!
(I am excluding social norms here as including them wouldn't make much sense, potentially promoting rebelliousness)
Let's dive deeper into what those cages represent...
In this social media era where we hear so many voices every day - ALL those voices leave a mark, whether good or bad. All those voices speak of limits as well as various other things... So often we look up to various people who have achieved more than us, who have 'got there' as it were in our eyes. But by comparing ourselves to their 'peak' of the mountain, we automatically place the same limit to our own life! Our subconscious places a clear limit at this point: "That's it, that's the top, that's as high as I can go".
I am using climbing metaphor as there is another level which can come to play, BUT ONLY IF we can think outside the box and don't place that person's achievements to the 'what is possible' box! That other level is aircraft, or hot balloon etc. ie anything that can fly higher than that tallest mountain top!
Where am I going with this?
We all listen to people around us (horisontal communication), and everyone has their own take on the world, politics, business, God etc. WE ARE ALL limited in our understanding! WE ARE JUST PEOPLE! We are all caged if we keep looking at each other and what we, as humans can and can't do! We all have HUGE limits... BUT, we serve an ALMIGHTY God, to Whom NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!
We disassemble the steel cages by looking at our Creator first, not relying on our own understanding, by replacing the limiting belief systems with what God has said about us.
To become fully what God intended us to be, we MUST find our authentic self in the presence of Almighty (and stop copying and comparing each other)!
If we take the human limitations off and build vertical first, we will find that God is INFINITELY MORE POWERFUL than any of us humans can fathom!
LET'S ALLOW GOD TO BE GOD!
There is another way we are potentially reinforcing those cages: our prideful attitude!
- What if our PRIDE is stopping us from learning new things?
- What would happen if we ALLOW OURSELVES to be wrong?
- What if the head knowledge we have gained over the years, is actually an obstacle to us learning more/deeper things?
Final thought:
Next time we come across someone who's understanding doesn't quite match ours, maybe we could stop and ask "what am I missing?" and "Lord Jesus, what would You like to teach me about this?".
Mind, that is stuck on something, will breed intolerance.
I will cover this subject more in the future as this has only touched the surface!
PRAYER
Father God, please help my limited understanding - I don't want to limit You in my life! If there is more You want to show me, I invite you to please do so. Please expand my understanding about You and help me to depend on You more.
