Captivating or Captive

As I travel I have the wonderful experience of being able to see cities not only for the physical beauty they hold, but God allows me to see into the spiritual and see things that only He could reveal to us. If you were to enter the city of San Francisco, where I currently am writing from, you would see a landscape that would take your breath away. To one side of the bridge you have an open bay of nothing but blue waters, and the other side a sight of historical stories that lead you to see the inner soul of men that have lived being captive. And it hit me, how many of the tourists of this city have come to marvel at the site of an establishment in which capitalizes on sin and bondage, instead of freedom and hope? I know and believe there are rescue stories from men who were held captive within the walls, but not so much the walls but the island on which is sits upon and crashing waves that surround the base. Man after man tried to escape from the walls of their imprisonment, but failed to realize once outside those walls there was a barrier of water holding them there. They would either drown trying to leave, or give up and settle for their bondage in life.



This wonder of mine begin to stir in me, how many of us actually do that with every day ordinary things in our lives? What bondage do we idolize and emphasize on to the point of making it our only focus on life, taking away from the One who actually took us from being captive, to being captivating. The ties of being caught in bondage are strong. Even though you may think you are completely free from your imprisonment, you come up against a barrier speaking to you that you are still captive.


It reminds me of a time in my life in which I took and put so much weight into the things of my past, it was literally destroying me – physically and spiritually. It came to a point one day in which I was faced with a reality that I needed to make sure I wasn’t still believing in the role, isolating myself to an island or standing under the label of unworthiness and failure for the rest of my life, but believing in the truths of my Father. My childhood life had tough moments, but moments in which shaped me to be the Woman of God I am today. If there weren’t battles or fights in my life, I wouldn’t have the respect or honor for the One who actually set me free. I was captive by the battle scars instead of being captivated by the One that healed them. I was focusing on one area of life, instead of exploring the beauty of all of it. That was my barrier – not seeing past what was in front of me. I saw life as just “life”. I didn’t take the time to look beyond the past things in my life that held me captive or bound in a mess of false truths spoken to me repeatedly through life.


And the moment that changed all that was sitting in an office with my favorite mentor (and spiritual dad) in the entire world and Pastor Pat’s words to me were, “Jamie, You’ve been set free from your prison. Now, all you have to do is step outside of the walls.” Easier said than done, I know. But this time, I wanted to be so free of all the barriers in my life, to fly without broken wings, so I fought for it. It was my rescue story. God had already placed inside of me the beauty of my story; the stokes to the painting on the canvas of my life; but He had also placed in me the strength in which I needed to go from being a victim to a survivor, to being free, to becoming captivated by a love that will never fail me. I finally saw past what was in front of me, and I busted through those barriers, swam like I had only a few breaths left in me, and I realized I had more endurance than I ever thought I would have. And my prayer now is that my life be so captivating to individuals around me that they will not only see it, but ask me why I have such liberation.


What is causing you from stepping off your island of imprisonment? Are you being captivating, or are you being held captive? If its people, don’t let them hold you back from all the adventures in life you could be missing out on. Break through those barriers and grab hold of the beauty and serenity of the life you’ve been blessed with. It will only shape you into a strong child of God to be used in the Kingdom for His glory. You are created with endurance to win the battle. I bet if half the men that tried to escape their imprisonment would have looked across the bay, at the beauty that laid on the other side instead of the barriers of waves, they would have found freedom.