Growing up, my family was more infamous than famous.  There were ten of us in a four-room dilapidated house.  At times there were barely enough clothes to wear and food to eat.  Not a lot of people wanted to hang out with us.  Then, Charlie came along. Charlie drew a lot of interest from a lot of people, and an article was even in the local paper telling the story of Charlie. 

I am not sure exactly how Charlie came to live with us, but I do know that my father brought him.  Charlie was a baby fawn who did not have a mother.  Across the street from our house was a huge fenced in piece of land that was littered with hundreds of pine trees.  Mr. Moise owned the land and gave my father permission to put Charlie inside the fence. 

Charlie had lots of room to run and play.   We trained him to come to one corner of the fence in order to give him milk out of a bottle.  In what seemed like no time at all, Charlie would come to that corner and wait for one of us to walk over and feed him milk. 

Over time, Charlie grew into a large buck with antlers.  He no longer needed a bottle to be fed.   Charlie got restless over time and no longer wanted to be limited by the barrier of the fence.  Charlie realized that as long as he stayed behind the fence, he would never experience the life he was born to experience.    He would never be what he was made to be unless he overcame the fence.

One day as we were sitting on the front porch, a movement caught our eye.  Charlie, with all his strength and might, made a running start and jumped that fence.  Freedom!   He would no longer be confined by the barrier whose purpose was to keep Charlie from becoming all he was meant to be. 

I wonder how many times Charlie walked up to that fence or ran up to that fence, only to be stopped by fear.  How many times had Charlie wanted out of that confinement, but felt he did not have the strength to overcome?

What fences stand between you and freedom today?  What fences have confined you from that for which God has created you?  In order to protect ourselves from pain and fear of failure, we often build imaginary fences and walls.   The walls we build are meant to protect us,  but those walls can actually keep us from experiencing the true freedom and joy that comes from above. 

In my lifetime, I have built fences because of fear, wound, fear of failure, self-image, and others.  I became confined by what my mind was telling me.  “You can never get beyond this point.”  “You can never stand in front of people and teach.”   “You can never trust a man after what your father did to you.”  The voices were nonstop.  So many times, I would gain a little momentum and run towards freedom only to encounter the fence.   Defeated, I would go back to my confined life, limited by the fence.

Think of fences as strongholds.  The Bible speaks to the issue of strongholds.   Strongholds are patterns of erroneous thinking that have taken a “strong hold” in our minds.  God had to show me that the fences I built in my mind were keeping me confined. 

We can overcome the fences or strongholds that have held us prisoner.  Though I cannot be exhaustive in this short blog, I can help you to get started.  Ask God to show you the lie(s) you have believed.  This is done by seeing the truth of what God has said.   Scripture can expose the lies that are deeply rooted in our minds.   Once we know what God has said about something, act on that.  Things might not change instantaneously but change they will!

No matter how many times you walk up to that fence and turn around in seeming defeat, be like Charlie.  Keep gaining momentum and you will scale the fence that has entrapped you.  In Jeremiah 23:29, God says: “Is not My Word like a fire…and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? ” The answer is YES!