Well, OK, it’s a place called “Parque del niño”—yep, creepy name!—that just so happens to have an area with animals. Some other missionary families and I all decided to get away for a day. Now, I don’t… do… public swimming pools, and I’m a little big for swing sets and slides. So needless to say, I spent much of my time alone, staring into the eyes of these so-called animals (we’ll get to that in a second).
It was really depressing.
If you thought zoos in the states were depressing, let me tell you that this one was way worse. Not that I’ve ever been a fan of zoos really, but this one was exceptionally sad! Every single cage, or exhibit, or space, or whatever you want to call it, was exactly the same: bare dirt surrounded by a chain link fence with a little brick building in the back where the animal could go for shade. I kid you not. The camel, in particular, really seemed to hate his life.
I spent a long time staring into the eyes of the camel. Seriously, he was looking back at me. He didn’t spit, he didn’t make any noise… he hardly moved. He just turned his head toward me and gazed with his haunting, empty brown eyes. Something inside of me writhed at the sight of it. I could imagine him running wild across the Sahara Desert, or perhaps winning a camel race in the underground… Bedouin… camel scene? But no… there he stood… baking pitifully beneath the Mexican sun. His callouses, bald spots, and broken spirit somehow took the “fun” out of being at the zoo.
It was the same when I looked at the other animals. I imagined the deer running through deep, cool woods in the heart of Oregon. I imagined the zebra tossing its head back in the winds of the African Savannah, and the spider monkeys swinging from vines hundreds of feet about a forest floor that human eyes have never seen. That same, aching question burned inside of me: What on earth are you doing here?
If I could have spoken to these animals, I would have asked them where they were born. Do they have any memories of freedom? Of the wild? Were their parents zoo animals too? Are they another generation in a long line of captive titans? Just looking at the spindly, calloused legs of that camel was hard for me. Does he not know the power inherent in those legs? His muscles, at their full strength, could carry him through deserts that would kill me in a day! Those Bison could have easily killed any one of their trainers. The hippos, in a concrete zone that would barely qualify as a puddle, have no idea that their kind are actually the top killers in all of Africa. What a terrible, heinous waste! What a crime against creation! Such potential! Yet, there it sits… slowly suffocating and withering away behind a flimsy, chain-link fence.
Then I had this thought: Isn’t that just what we do to ourselves? How many humans spend their entire lives behind fences? Fences of fear, of bitterness, of failure—or perhaps of comfort and familiarity. I know that I harp on this subject a lot, but I believe, with every single fiber of my being that no one is here by accident. That every human being is uniquely loved by God and has a purpose so great that it can only be unfolded by eternity. Yet, how many of us are willing to lay everything on the line, literally betting the farm at times, on whether or not what God says is true?
If we’re being honest, very few.
Can you imagine if I asked most people the kinds of questions I wanted to ask the animals? Do you remember freedom? Were you born into captivity, already caged-in by the limitations your family put upon you? Do you remember ever being in the wild? Perhaps you were left beaten and bruised by life, and in seeking to keep yourself safe, you built a cage—is that what happened? For some, the questions would be a little different. For those of us who grew up in the church, maybe we have false ideas about God that cage us in. Maybe we only trust him so far with life, and that distance is roughly equivalent to the radius of our cage.
I can’t speak to anyone’s specific circumstances. But I can speak to the Truth of God. Have you ever really read the Bible and taken it to the bank in your own life? Let’s think about this. The Word says that as many are the promises of God—everything God has ever said he would do—they are all “yes” in Christ Jesus (check out 2 Corinthians 1:20). Good grief! In the book of 1 Corinthians 3:16, it says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” Now, call me a literalist here… but let’s put two and two together: Every promise of blessing, every promise of guidance, every promise of provision, every time God has ever said he will surely BE with us, everything God has ever said he would do, is “yes!” in Jesus Christ. Another way to say it is that the deposit has been made in the account of Christ Jesus—it’s all there and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Then, this same Jesus rose again, and in conquering Death itself he left us the Holy Spirit, which is even better (See John chapter 14). And this Spirit—one and the same with the Father and the Son—lives inside of us.
Hello? Are you hearing what I’m hearing?
Unlimited potential! Promises too great for us to imagine! Infinite possibility! All of this lives inside of us by the Spirit of Christ!
Goodness gracious….
If I got depressed looking at caged animals, what must Christ feel when he sees his children? Have you ever wondered what the God who rained manna down from Heaven must feel when his dear children, whom he loves more than anything else in all of the universe, come whimpering and begging that maybe, by chance, if it be his Will, could he give them a crumb of bread? Honestly! I can’t decide if I think he laughs or weeps.
Brothers and sisters, it’s high time we recognized our potential. Oh, that God would expand our imaginations! That he would expand our wildest dreams! Maybe you feel like you’re shut in and there’s no way out, that you haven’t the faintest idea how to open the door and get out of the cage you’ve built for yourself. Maybe you’re not even sure what your cage is…. But I’ve got news for you. Jesus says to you today, “Knock and the door will be opened.” Now, this isn’t the time for excuses. Don’t give me that, well, how on earth do I knock? What kind of door is he talking about? The question, really, is whether or not you’re willing to just give it a shot.
You see, so many of us go to church. We’ve memorized the Lord’s Prayer, and we usually even say a word of thanks before a meal. But I would bet my guitar that the average believer would be left utterly dumbstruck, terrified, confused, and possibly pass out if God were ever to respond to their prayers! We say our prayers so glibly, so quickly—do we realize that we’re talking to a person? Do we pray to get it over with and get out before giving God any time to respond, or do we have a conversation with a dear friend? I say very carefully that the issue is not how many minutes you spend talking to God. The question is whether you give God any time to talk to you! We have trained ourselves that as long as we keep talking, keep blessing every one that comes to mind—good grief, keep your tongue wagging before something talks back!—we’re OK. Well, church, I say it’s time to take a little risk…
Will you join me in this? Will you ask God to be true to His word? Will you ask him to set you free? Will you ask him to show you his glory? Will you demand that he fulfill his promises and hold on to them like a rabid dog?
Man alive, we give up SO easily! We pray for something, and if we don’t see the exact response we had in mind within 15 minutes of saying “amen,” we’re ready to throw in the towel and say that maybe some of God’s promises just “aren’t for today.”
WRONG.
Is Jesus alive today? Is he the same yesterday, today, and forever? Then in the name of our Lord, I say that every one of his promises IS. FOR. TODAY. I’m not saying that God is going to go around giving 90-year-old women babies or that you’re going to be swallowed by a fish or that you should go sit by a dry creek and wait for ravens to give you food. What I am saying is that God’s character, his goodness, his love, his purposes in Jesus Christ, and his covenant oath to his people haven’t changed. All of his promises are a resounding “yes” in Jesus Christ. And as his adopted son or daughter, you have legal rights to those promises.
I don’t know about you, but if I got a call from an attorney saying that a distant relative had decided to give me a million dollars, I wouldn’t sit around wondering if it was the “will” of the courts to let me have enough money to buy lunch. I’d break every speed limit in town to get there and get my money! Why won’t we do that with the things of God? Has God spoken a promise to you over your life? I guarantee you that he has. And maybe it’s time for you to start asking him what it is. It’s time to go through the Bible with a fine-tooth comb, like a madman searching for buried treasure. You find God’s treasure, and hold on to it with all you’ve got. Or maybe, you have a word over your life, but it seems like all hope has faded away and the flames of that promise are fading into dim embers. Well, today is your day! You bring that promise back to the source, and let God be true to his word.
With all the love I have, I say to you: Get your sorry camel butt out of that stinking cage.
You are a child of God, an heir of promise, more than a conqueror, and a warrior of the Most High. Whether you see it or not really doesn’t matter very much. You have no business rolling around in the dust. So for goodness’ sake, get out.
Romans 12:2: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
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