“Responsibility is freedom.”
His words defused my bad temper like a whiff of warm steam meeting winter’s wind. My frustrations melted like butter smeared across baking bread.
Suddenly, I knew God was talking to me.
You see, only moments ago I was boiling with frustration at my bunny Charity.
I had been trying to potty train her for weeks and she was taking longer than expected to learn this “simple thing.” (Yes, you can potty train rabbits. It’s fairly easy actually).
Normally, I was very patient with her but I had grown tired of micromanaging her every time I let her out of her cage. Whenever I took her out of her cage, I would have to stop her from biting on furniture. I would have to pick up her poo and scrub her pee out of the carpet. I would have to stop her from digging into the rugs or chewing on the curtains, pillows and walls. (Yes, bunnies are pretty destructive creatures. But their adorableness makes up for it).
I wanted her to hop around the house because it gave her such joy. And it pleased me to see her happy and skipping around. She would dash from corner to corner and leap like a mountain goat. Her whimsical motions bubbled joy.
Because I loved her, I didn’t want her to be locked up in the cage. That was not my heart’s desire for her. But every time I let her out of the cage, her pleasure came at my expense. Her freedom was WORK for me!
Finally, after several minutes of frustration one day, I picked her up and placed her in the cage. I locked it shut and in my anger, I proceeded to give her a lecture (completely ignoring the fact that bunnies do not speak English). With my hands on my hips I fussed, “you know, if you would just poop and pee where I’ve been showing you, you could be out of that cage. If you wouldn’t chew on things you weren’t supposed to, then you could hop around this house all day and hardly EVER have to be in your cage. I would let you out all the time! This entire house could be yours freely if you would just grow up!”
That’s when God spoke to me. He came like a Father in loving correction (Proverbs 3:12).
His voice was full of healing truth, “I feel the same way about you Ashley like you do your rabbit.”
My breath caught.
“Father?”
“Responsibility is freedom. I love it when you are able to be free in my house because it gives you pleasure. But I have to follow behind you and clean up your messes.”
I understood immediately what He meant. After all, I had just been through it with Charity (and suddenly, I was feeling more sympathetic toward her).
Now obviously I don’t scratch on walls, poop everywhere or bite on furniture like Charity does, but the analogy was cohesive to my reality during that time. I was attending Bible college, working as a prayer minister and my husband was about to start pastoring a home church. God was opening up his house to us in amazing ways…but He was saddened because He couldn’t allow me to roam freely in his home (at least not without a lot of tedious micromanagement).
“Everyone cries for freedom and desires to be free. However, most of us who cry for freedom do not understand freedom, or the nature of liberty. It is a tragic reality that we do not understand the qualifications of true freedom. True freedom demands great responsibility, accountability, a spirit of stewardship, maturity, wisdom and character.” –Dr. Myles Monroe, The Burden of Freedom
You see, as children of God, our Father wants us to play freely in his house. He wants us to enjoy every aspect of our inheritance as his child. He wants us to know that the God who owns the earth, sky, heavens, and all the gold and diamonds is our Daddy. He wants us to fully enjoy our life. He wants us to experience the abundant life Jesus died and rose again for us to have.
In God’s house, there are many mansions (John 14:2). In each mansion, we can guess there are rooms. In all of His rooms there are pleasures unspeakable because his presence is there (Psalm 16:11). As a child of God, you have been given the inheritance of Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:17). You were put in Christ and Christ was put in you (1 Corinthians 1:30 and 1 Corinthians 6:17). You automatically became royalty when you were born again (1 Peter 2:9). And the noun “royalty” always denotes a kingdom.
Did you know that you are a part of a kingdom? A heavenly kingdom that exists (and is very active) even on earth? God delights in giving you the kingdom (Luke 12:32). You are his precious child in whom He delights and loves. Like any loving father, God wants you to enjoy his house because it’s meant to be your home.
As with all royalty, you and I have great privilege but we also have great responsibility. In order for us to enjoy the freedoms of ruling and reigning in life through Jesus Christ we need to be mature. I am not talking about the free gift of salvation here but delegated leadership. We need to grow up by conforming to the image of Jesus Christ through grace (Romans 8:29). This growing up has looked a lot like embracing truth for me. It’s looked a lot like serving others and using my gifts and talents to encourage the body of Christ. It’s been a lot of bowing my knees to God in true worship by exalting his Word above my feelings and the philosophies of the world.
This maturing has yielded the most peace, blessing and immense joy in my heart. I can now walk through more rooms in my Father’s house without child-like “supervision.” Although I haven’t walked through all the rooms, I have much more freedom than I used to. And because of God’s grace and powerful transformation in my soul, I have now been placed in a small position of “government” in His kingdom (Isaiah 9:6). It is a huge thing to be entrusted by God to “tend his sheep.” (John 21:16). Tending the sheep for me has been one of the final rounded turns in the circle of godly love (1 John 4:6-13). The things that were once dreams in my heart are coming to reality.
My prayer for you is that you will embrace the process of growth in Christ. I pray that you will enjoy ruling and reigning in the area of jurisdiction that your heavenly Father wants to give to you. I pray you realize that you were predestined unto good works that God had in mind before you were born (Ephesians 2:10). I pray that you will see all your desires fulfilled by unifying yourself with Jesus and that this will not only bring you immense joy but draw your heart closer to Him. I pray that you will walk in the authority and power of the kingdom of heaven. May the earth see Jesus through you. May the world be blessed by the work of your hands. May the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope (Romans 15:13). May you never be lost in despair or darkness, but may the Light of the world (Jesus) shine upon you like the blazing morning sun. May all that’s ashes in your life be turned to beauty. May you recognize the royal robe of favor and sonship that has been donned on you through Jesus. And may you run your race to win. In Jesus name, amen. I’m cheering you on!
If you find yourself in need of some clarity on what your purpose is or if you know your God-purpose but don’t know how to reach it, I am a certified Christian Life Coach. I would love to partner with you on your journey to greater freedom. The King of Heaven is your Father and He has made you to display the splendor and majesty of heaven because you carry his image. More importantly, He loves you with an everlasting love and calls you to Himself. His plans for you are only good. He is not against you but for you (Romans 8:31). He never thinks ill of you. His thoughts toward you are precious and kind (Psalm 139:17).
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. –Ephesians 4:11-16
