Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. – Joel 3:10
What’s the difference between a Caged Lion, and a Lion in a cage?
One thing: mindset.
The Caged Lion has adapted his nature to the confines of his captivity. His wild instincts have been dulled and his nature has been tamed by comfort, complacency and conditioning.
The Lion in the cage, however, is simply that: a wild dangerous predator who happens to be in a cage.
Who he is hasn’t been diminished one iota by where he happens to be right now.
In fact, his decision to embrace the tension between his identity and location has fanned his desire to unleash who he really is.
Yes, he eats the food given to him. Yes, he jumps through the hoops to perform for the paying crowd. And yes, he plods and places behind the bars of a secure enclosure.
But even within all this, he never identifies himself as a Caged Lion.
He’s a Lion in a cage. He’s a Lion in a situation that is not reflective of his true nature. He’s a permanent Lion going through a temporary situation.
He knows the situation will change. Either in his lifetime or at the moment when he dies.
But regardless of how his situation changes, one thing remains.
He is not a Caged Lion.
He is a Lion who happens to be in a cage.
You are not weak.
You are a strong person who happens to be experiencing weakness.
You are not poor.
You are an extremely wealthy person who happens to be experiencing a time of poverty.
You are not sick.
You are a healthy person who happens to be experiencing a time of sickness right now.
This isn’t mere semantics. The words matter, because they are addressing your mindset and the way you see yourself.
And the way you see yourself will direct the choices you make and the results you experience in life.
As he thinketh in his heart, so is he. (Proverbs 23:7)
You are not a Caged Lion.
You are a Lion who happens to be in a cage.
Let the weak say I am strong…