It won’t always be this way. I had to keep telling myself that or I would go crazy. Some people are afraid of change but I live for it. My personality is wired for progression and constant metamorphosis. I get complacent really quickly if I’m left too long to my own devices and crazy imagination. Did I mention I have a vivid imagination??? I could literally live on a diet of books, music, movies, operas, Broadway musicals, ballets, etc. I love the unseen fictional world. I remember my most cherished Christmas gift as a child was a collection of books that had the accompanying narrator audio tapes (yes I said tapes, I know I just gave my age away) to go with them. My absolute favorite was Alice in Wonderland. I was FASCINATED by this tale of a quirky, imaginative girl that discovers her true identity in her fairy tale world that she created. I loved watching the transformation that she underwent as she changed from a scared, insecure girl who didn’t know her true identity to a powerful heroine that changed her make-believe world. She conquered a crazy queen and her sidekick dragon because she stepped into her destiny.
Somewhere between the Cheshire cat and the Mad Hatter, Alice found herself.
Waking up in Wonderland
I’m convinced that true change happens at the intersection of crazy and confused. Just like Alice sometimes we find ourselves and our true destiny in the most unexpected of places. We run into blocked doors and confusing situations and find ourselves overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the obstacles, overwhelmed because things take so long, overwhelmed because what we are walking out is not what we envisioned for our lives. We slowly begin to just accept our lives as they are and don’t believe for anything more than what we can see. We slowly stop believing in “Wonderland”, because our lives are anything but wonderful. They only thing we wonder about is when will the nightmare be over?? Our misery eventually drives us to Christ and His all-surpassing greatness. Our dutiful, boring lives begin to become infused with wonder and hope as we find He is all the excitement we will ever need. And if that isn’t enough, as we discover Him in His fullness, He begins to show us who we are in Him. So we begin to dust off that old fairy tale about a whimsical, silly girl that becomes a dragon slayer. We start to believe that maybe, just maybe we could slay a dragon or giant or something like that. No my life doesn’t look like I thought it would but it’s still wonderful! No I haven’t completely found myself but I’m getting closer every day.
The other day I was encouraged by these words found in Isaiah 58:14:
“Then thou shalt delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.” (KJV)
“Heritage” is also translated “inheritance”. Part of our inheritance is walking in our promised land. God has called His people to walk upon the high places of the earth to receive their inheritance. We have our own “Wonderland” that is waiting for us to redeem it! But we have to walk on the high places to access it.
WHAT ARE HIGH PLACES?
According Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible and his commentary on Isaiah 58:14, he writes about the meaning of High Places:
“to live above the world, and to have their conversation in heaven; to be in the utmost safety, and enjoy the greatest plenty, especially of spiritual things: or to be superior to the men of the world, even the highest of them; to have power and authority in the earth.”
High Places are places of victory, position, authority and perpetual prosperity. God desires for His people to rule the earth in His stead in order to bring Heaven to Earth. In order to walk upon the High Places we have to think like God and talk like God. In order to enter our Promised Land we have to do it God’s way. In His sovereign wisdom He will let us walk around that mountain as many times as it takes to get us ready for our Promised Land. The truth is we aren’t waiting on God….He is waiting on us. Waiting on us to surrender, waiting on us to subdue that stronghold that we’ve been chained to for years, waiting on us to agree with Him so He can work on our behalf, waiting on us to release His power in our lives by releasing His word in our circumstances.
Wonderland is waiting! Pick up your sword, stone or staff that God has given you and subdue the enemy that has been holding you back. He has promised victory to His children because He’s already won! It’s time to conquer and stop being conquered.
