Preparing to fly free

Many of us sit captive to our circumstances.

We feel chained down to ground or set aside, caught on a ledge where we fear falling.

We may long to stretch our wings and fly but something holds us back from soaring free.

It feels safer somehow to remain where we are.

Like a butterfly with bruised wings we hover and sway, trying to find a place where we can rest until we feel strong again. 

Waiting out the time when an open window, open door will appear.

Remain stuck where we are because we lack the courage or energy to move on, or become overly accustomed to where we’re at right now.

Feel afraid to face the future because this is hard enough.

Earthly concerns can constrict, constrain and confine.

But they don’t have the ultimate say on how, when and where we become released again – God does.

Maybe you’re in a resting season where nothing much seems to be happening.

Maybe you’re feeling the frustration of wanting to see change for the good.

Hearing the ache of holy in the everyday as you stay rooted and earthbound.

If your spiritual antennae are attuned to God’s word and the way He speaks in and through everything, then you’re in a good place for some serious listening to Him and active listening to your life.

So how can we prepare to fly free? Is it possible? Oh yes, my friend, it is.

It begins with seeing how captive we really are. Our blind eyes are opened to reality.

It starts with the heart.. making room to move, for change on the horizon, a willingness to heed His voice and surrender to Holy Spirit within.

It continues with a growing awareness that God hasn’t forgotten about us.

It ignites deep inner conviction and desire to live life differently.

It expands to accepting that God’s plans and purposes for us are beyond our wildest dreams. We haven’t been abandoned.

It becomes clear we are ready for a new stage in our lives or a re-framing of past experiences through the lens of God’s grace.

Our minds become renewed with His word. Our horizons begin to look less confining than before.

We don’t have to stay where we are unless God has placed us here for a reason and a season to do some necessary preparatory inner work.

But even in the school of the Holy Spirit there is forward momentum, a stretching and an unfurling toward the new.

We can grow and spread our wings on the way to all we are becoming.

Even as we feel like a confined chrysalis waiting to become a beautiful butterfly, we see how God is eagerly standing by as we’re preparing to fly free.

We won’t fall or drown, or be smashed to smithereens. He’s got us safe.

Let’s aim to support and encourage one another on the journey toward greater wholeness and healing as we’re preparing to fly free.

The poem below may help you as you reach for the freedom that is rightfully ours in Christ.

Spread your wings

It takes wisdom to see behind

the confines of the cage we’re in

It takes courage to willingly

spread out our wings and fly free

There’s a new world beckoning

There’s renewed hope within

And a Voice whispers soft

Come, My child, just trust

Because however safe and familiar

our current circumstances may seem

they’ll choke the life right out of us

unless we’re pursuing our God-given dream

©JoyLenton2015