Are You A Stuck Hamster?…

There is a recent story told about a pet hamster that escaped his cage. The little girl who owned the pet hamster frantically searched the house in the hopes of returning him safely to his cage. After searching and searching, the little girl finally recovered her pet from under the refrigerator where it was happily hiding. The little girl returned her hamster to its cage, but began to notice something rather troubling about her pet…it wouldn’t move.
The hamster would not eat or drink either. The little ball of fur would just sit by the bars of the cage hour after hour.

Finally after three days of this issue and fearing for the hamster’s health, the little girl, accompanied by her parents took the pet to the local vet. The Veterinarian observed the hamster in the cage, still un-moving and propped against the bars of the cage. She took the hamster out of the cage and curiously it walked normally and interacted…but when placed back in the cage it would once again prop itself against the cage and remain.

Finally the Veterinarian did some further examinations of the hamster. Upon closer study she noticed that one of the pet’s cheek pouches was more pronounced than the other. With a little prodding and prying, the veterinarian finally came to a conclusion and a quick and painless remedy for the hamster’s condition. The pet wasn’t sick at all. It had just stored a refrigerator magnet in its cheek pouch and had been stuck to the metal bars of the cage for three days.

As humorous as this story is, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some sort of parable type moral to be shared here.
Are we like this pet hamster sometimes?
Are we stuck to the bars of our cages, without any hope of prying ourselves free?
Is our ‘stuck-ness’ self-inflicted?
Have we consumed things harmful to our body, souls & minds? And try as we might, we can’t let go and we are held captive to the walls of our cages…

What sort of magnet have you consumed?
-Is it personal doubts in the abilities that God has given you?
-Is it the lies the world around you has told you about who you are…and you’ve consumed those lies? (Believing them whole-heartedly until it becomes the truth?)
-Is it fear of failure or rejection? So instead of trying anything, fear has held you captive for far too long?
-Is it self-confidence and even believing that God would call someone like you? Because you don’t think you have any talent, or skill, or really anything God would need?

These ‘magnets’ hold us back.
Keep us bound to our own self-inflicted imprisonment.
The Father Of Lies wants us to remain stuck there.
Why?
Because we cannot impact the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth if we’re held captive in our cages. We offer little threat to this world in terms of being witnesses for Jesus…while magnetized to our cage.

Break Free!
How do we break free from the cage?
How do we own our inadequacies and fears?
We confront them for what they are – lies.
We acknowledge that we don’t have the strength…but we know someone who does. God has promised us that He would never leave us or forsake us. He has also promised to give us what we need (2 Thessalonians 1:2-12) all we have to do is call out to Him and He will be there. This doesn’t mean that things will always get suddenly easier, but it does mean that we will begin to tap into a power much greater than our own. We will begin to see the things we have consumed in our hearts and minds that hold us captive and stuck to our cages.

What is the ‘magnet’ that you have consumed that you need to let go of?
Declare it today.
Write it down.
Pray it out loud to the Lord.
We need to really verbalize it out loud so that we can name it and then let it go. When we do this, we will find the freedom that God has for us, and we then will see the plans that He has for you and me.

Oh and, leave the magnets on the fridge.

😉

-Something more to ponder today. –

Prayer:
Dear Lord, help me to let go of my magnet.
I confess that I cannot do this on my own.
I need your help.
I confess that I am inadequate in_________________________(you name it).
My strength isn’t enough, and I need your help.
Remind me of Your truths.
Remind me of how You see me instead of what the world has told me that I am. I desire to be free from this.
Guide me and help me to hear your voice today.
In Your name I pray these things.
-Amen.