As I woke up this morning, the words, “The Box” came to mind.

I love these moments, because I always know there is a lesson in the words spoken to me by the Heavenly Father so early in the morning and then comes a blessing.

As I thought about the box, I remembered times that others would talk about thinking outside the box.  And yet, when I tried, it was as though no one wanted to hear from me.  It was as though, only a few were allowed to express themselves outside of the box.  I just needed to sit quietly and listen to their expressions – thinking outside of the box.   No one should ever feel that way.

I am going to go a little off course this morning, being brave to share what came to my heart.

There is never a day that goes by that someone isn’t talking about President Trump.  It has been nonstop for two years.

The Holy Spirit quickened my heart with these words, “I love the way that President Trump thinks outside of the box.”

Now that is different.

People are called to run for office.  They have heard the people who voted for them and now they are excited about going to Washington, D.C. and share that with other leaders.  Then comes the big day and they are shut down.  They are expected to act like the rest of the leaders.  To sit down and listen.  They soon forget their purpose – their mission – the desires of the people.

We have a new President that has come to Washington, D.C. and he is not willing to crawl into the box – instead, he wants to lay it out on the table.  He truly wants to do what the people asked him to do. And it made a lot of other leaders mad.  They didn’t know how to handle this.  These leaders wanted him to play by their rules.

I don’t know about you but I feel God is saying, “It is time to crawl out of that box of controlling, of deceit, of lies, of hatred and lets get it all put out on the table and take a look at things.”

It reminds me of small children and their excitement of their first day of school.  They are excited about learning new things – being able to create – finding purpose – and more than anything acceptance.  By the time they get up to middle school, the majority of these kids have crawled into a box.  Why?  To be accepted.  But in order to be accepted, they have to give up their dreams – their creativity – their joy – and so many other things.

Why are we allowing each other to be shut down – silenced?  No longer able to think outside of the box.  Sadly, so many people no longer know how to be creative.

This past year, I stepped totally outside of the box.  And because I did, I am discovering my old dreams and realizing that I have wasted a lot of years trying to be accepted.  Putting my dreams aside and basically just dying – no longer who God created me to be.  Freedom in Christ was lost.

Are you tired of living in a box?  Afraid to speak out because someone is going to shut you down?  I am.

It must be important to God also, because he keeps giving me new words and new thoughts and they all seem to be outside of the box.  I am going to continue to speak up and speak out so that others will feel like they have the freedom to do the same thing – crawl out of that box.  Discover some old dreams and things that you enjoyed so many years ago.  Seek to be free.  Encourage others to be free.

Have you been shut down?  Not allowed to create?  To dream?  To be?

It’s time to break out and be free!

Free as a Bird