By AIC Shane Hall
You were born in a zoo and sold to a circus. After spending 12 years in captivity there was a newfound home in a most beautiful sanctuary. The reaction to this first day is the most heart-bursting thing ever but goes beyond that as we relate this story to our most important relationship.
In Oklahoma, Willie the bear had been the highlight of the show. Kids were amazed, fathers were intrigued by his size and strength, and mothers were afraid. Yet they were all drawn into the excitement of seeing a wild black bear.
Willie was born into captivity, and sadly for him, as with many other confined animals, his daily routines never changed. Willi’s routine began with the metal cage, then went from the cage to the curtain, the curtain to a box and a bridge, a bridge to a box, and ended up back in the cage. The metal cage measured 4.5 feet wide by 8 feet long. When Willie reentered the cage to spend hour after hour, he would pace back and forth, day to day, until returning to the show for his 15 minutes of fame.
“We have to rescue the bear!”
Then, as grace abounds, the circus business went belly up, began to liquidate its assets, and moved on. Larry McDaniels, and his daughter Megan, just happened to be driving by the property and noticed the sign that read, “Circus Bear for Sale”. Megan, being a lover of animals, just like her dad, immediately said, “We have to rescue the bear!”
The sale was immediate, and so with eager expectations they stowed the metal cage in a trailer and off they went with Willie. The rescue to the ranch was almost complete. Willie would be given 10 acres of lush Kentucky bluegrass, nestled in the trees of oak and cedar, and all the nuts and berries he could eat.
“He’s taking it all in.”
That evening, Larry and Megan opened the cage door and Willie, for the very first time, looked out into the vast open space. He stood there for what seemed like an hour. Larry said, “He’s taking it all in.” Then all at once Willie begin to walk forward straight as an arrow. Megan began to smile at this wonderful site saying, “He’s finally free.”
What was metal around the bear had become mental
Willie went about eight feet before turning 180 degrees and walked back the way he came. As he approached eight feet, he turned another 180 degrees and paced back the other way. This continued for hours. Eight feet one way, eight feet back the same way. What was metal around the bear had become mental. It took almost six weeks for Willie to forget the cage and act like a bear. After that, he never needed the cage again. Megan said it was like he was smiling at the wonders around him.
As winter is upon us, I am reminded how our enemy (the devil) is very much like a blizzard that blows in and leaves everything in its path not only covered, but frozen in time. A heart of snow seems to describe what happened to the bear, as well as to you and me. As with a windowpane stricken with ice, our eyes cannot envision ourselves outside the confinement we’ve been placed into. We are so focused on the here and now, that we believe the routine is our saving grace. Go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch TV, sleep and start it over the next morning. Maybe on Sunday we go to church, go to lunch, go home and maybe even have some sort of entertainment. Ritual routines that never invoke change or even cause us
A ritual that keeps us in our eight-foot line
The devil loves a routine that stops, hinders or stunts our growth in Jesus. However, the routine is like the bitterness of a cold blustery wind, slowly creeping into the depths of our hearts and souls, leaving us frozen in time. Like the bear, our schedule and habits are merely a ritual that keeps us in our eight-foot line and our existence as barren as a snow-covered field and void of our Savior.
We, like the bear, must move and take the step forward breaking through the frost of our snow-covered heart. Every survival guide says, when caught in the cold, stay on the move in order to stay warm. So, if you find yourself in the proverbial snowstorm, move, step out in faith, do something different, change the temp by changing your so-called routine. Do as any kid would do on a snow day, make a snow angel, build a snowman, climb that hill and slide down while you holler aloud with glee. Warm your heart knowing each day is a gift. That’s why they call it the present.
Step outside the eight-foot mental radius
Lastly, be like the bear that finally stepped outside the eight-foot mental radius and began a new journey, a journey that unfroze his mental captivity and allow him to live a life like a bear.
Free that inner bear in you, find what awaits you in the purpose, will and plan your heavenly Father has for you.