Don't be a Jumbo

Jumbo, who was one of the largest elephants in captivity, was part of the Barnum and Bailey circus for a number of years. He was a gentle giant who used to give rides to children on his back. I heard a story about him not too long ago, that when they first captured him as a small elephant, they would tie him to a stake in a cage to keep him from escaping. Since he couldn't pull himself from the stake, he learned to remain where he was. As he grew and became mightier and mightier, he was known to be able to pick up massive trees with his trunk and uproot them from the ground. Yet, still, every night, they would tie him to this simple, tiny stake in the ground and he never tried to escape. Why? When it would have been no problem at all for him to yank that stake from the ground and gain his freedom? Because he had learned when he was little that he couldn't pull up the stake, and he still believed that when he grew up.

Now, think of yourself as that tiny elephant. That's you before you met Christ or that's you when you were young in the faith. When you didn't really know God or understand His power. When your spiritual muscles were weak. The stake is a problem. It could be a marriage problem, financial problem, kid problem, health problem, job problem, relationship problem...whatever. It is a problem in your life, something that before Jesus would have completely held you captive.

Yet you still just stand there staring at the stake and complaining that you are not free.

Do you realize that as a committed Christian, you are the child of the King of the Universe? Do you realize who your Daddy is? Do you realize the power He's given you at your fingertips, the strength? the wisdom?

Nothing is impossible with God Luke 1:37

If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Phillipians 4:13

Don't stand there and stare at the stake as if a problem could hold you down. Call upon the God of the universe, your Daddy, and flex your Faith muscles and then wait and see what He will do.

I meet so many people whose biggest problem is that they simply don't believe who they are In Christ. They are still encumbered with problems they've had since childhood, not realizing that God not only wants to set them free, but can set them free.

Don't be like Jumbo