WHENEVER I have taken my children or grandchildren to the circus, we would normally see the elephants outside in the parking lot as they were being prepared to go in to entertain the crowd. One of the things that you will notice, if you’ve seen that sight, is that these huge beasts are being held hostage by a little chain around one of their ankles connected to a post that’s in the ground. It is amazing to think that such a little chain, connected to such a little post, could hold such a big beast hostage. An elephant could simply swipe and either break the chain or pull up the post.
But circus elephants don’t do that, because when they were baby elephants, their master, the trainer, taught them that when they felt the chain that they were supposed to submit. The baby elephants never had an opportunity to understand their identify. So circus elephants are good for entertainment only, because in the early days their identity was ripped from them.
A lot of us are being held hostage. We come to church and we hear about all of this power we have, all of this greatness we have, but just a little old chain holds us down. And we wonder what’s wrong, how can we be such powerful beings and be held hostage by any little thing that shows up. It’s a question of identity.904
[Christian Living, Power; Satan, Strategy of]
Heb. 12:1