I am free to run.

On Thursday, I learned about cages.

 Jesus showed me a cage I have been comfortably sitting in for the majority of my life. It was a cage of insecurity. For as long as I can remember, I have never given myself credit for any of my successes, but I was quick to blame myself for all of my failures.

I wasn't good at cheerleading, but somehow I made varsity. We won state, but how much did I really contribute? I wasn't that smart, but somehow I made straight A's. Somehow I got academic scholarships. I wasn't well-liked, but somehow I was elected to officer positions in student government.

My whole life was me making excuses for my success.
"I got lucky on that test," or "the coach has a false idea of my true abilites." For years I have been making these excuses. Nothing I accomplished was anything I felt I deserved. I just got lucky.

But in reality, I had been speaking lies over myself completely convinced that the words I were saying were the truth.

But Jesus told me they were lies. And this is what he said: "You have built this cage of insecurity so high that you can't see a way out. You look up and you see bars for miles. But child, there is a door right in front of you. If you just stop looking up at your fear, doubt and insecurity and look out,you will see me. The door has been there all along, and because you are in relationship with me, its not even locked. The enemy has no power over this place. You have such value. You deserve it. You deserve me."

I was not made to live in a cage. Cages make me restless and worried. Cages make me feel stuck. Jesus wants more for me. In Him I am able to run. I have no limits. I can dream.

When I was stuck inside a cage, I hit a wall everywhere I tried to run. I got discouraged. I lost sight of my dreams. But now, I know the lies. I know the enemy's tricks.

I know that in Jesus, I am free to run.
So I will.