Clipping Our Own Wings

Clipping Our Own Wings

by Grant Gaines

Have you ever heard the story of how elephants are trained? It is quite fascinating and a great analogy we can learn from. When the elephants are just little calves their trainers tie a small rope around one of the elephant’s legs and then tie the other end to a stick that is driven into the ground. At their young age, the calves are not strong enough to break free from the rope (despite weighing an average of 230 pounds at birth!). They quickly learn not to even try running away. As these calves grow into 12,000-14,000 pound adults they obviously grow stronger. But the same rope that constrained them when they were calves restrains them as adults. The rope is no longer strong enough to restrict the adult elephants, but because they failed to break free as calves, the adult elephants still believe the rope has the power to restrict them.

As silly as it may seem to us that a 14,000 pound animal could be held back by a little rope, when it comes to fear, we too can be like these elephants. How often in life—like these elephants—are we held back from doing something great just because we have failed once before? And what if, like those adult elephants, the fears that are holding us back right now are not really powerful enough to stop us from achieving what we have always wanted to achieve?

Are you afraid to lead a Bible study because of your fear of public speaking? Moses was a cat-got-your-tongue stutterer who led an entire nation for 40 years (Exodus). Take some confidence from some modern day Moseses who were able to overcome their fears and accomplish greatness such as Winston Churchill who overcame his fear of public speaking to become one of Britain’s greatest Prime Ministers. Or how about Julia Roberts and Samuel L. Jackson who both overcame stuttering at children to become famous Hollywood movie stars.

I believe if you dig deep enough, you will find that behind every success story there is a story of a conquered fear. Fear can wear many different disguises – the fear of failure, the fear of public speaking, the fear of moving away from home, the fear of taking a risk, etc. –but at their most fundamental root, all these fears are just tiny, breakable ropes that we allow to hold us back from achieving greatness.

I can’t guarantee that every time you overcome a fear you will become the next great political leader like Winston Churchill or a Hollywood movie star. However, I can guarantee that if you give fear the opportunity to enslave you, it will.

But I’m not here to give you a pep talk from my own words, I’m here to encourage you with the words of our God with whom, “…all things are possible…” (Mark 10:27, NIV). And when you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior you also accept Him as your Conqueror over all of your fears. God is quoted frequently throughout the Bible telling us to not be afraid and when God starts to repeat Himself over a matter, it’s time we start listening!

When we do choose to listen to God’s voice of confidence rather than the lies of our fears, we hear God encouraging us with 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT) when He says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” So that “can’t-do” attitude that is plaguing your life right now and keeping you from your dreams is not from God and has no real authority to enslave you.

Really if you think about it, it is insulting to God that we should look at the gifts He has given us and then decide that they are not adequate enough for us to use them. God has equipped us with the perfect tools we need to accomplish every good work (2 Peter 1:3, NIV), but it is our job to overcome our fears by using the tools God has given us.

Let Ephesians 3:20 (NIV) give you confidence to pick up the tools God has given you when it says that our God, “…is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…” God is able to do even more than your greatest thought or wildest imagination. So when you say you can’t do something you truly are clipping your own wings and putting a governor on the heights that God wants you to achieve.

What fear is holding you back? At times your fear may seem like an insurmountable mountain but Jesus says in Matt 17:20 (NIV), “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

With that in mind, what fear are you allowing to restrict you when you hear your Savior say nothing will be impossible for you with faith?

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©Grant Gaines 2013