Chapter 9: Freedom:
As I stood next to Wisdom watching Stephen walk through the fences, he called out, “What is the wall made of?”
“Fear.”
I watched Stephen stop and look at the wall. It was huge. Many never got past the fences, and I knew that this was a crucial test for Stephen.
Without looking back, he called out again, “Will you help me climb it?”
“I can’t help you,” I responded. “If I try to help you, it will only take you twice as long and be even harder. To conquer your fears, you must face them alone.”
“The more I look up at it the worse it seems,” I heard Stephen say to himself.
“Stephen, you have made your first mistake.”
“What did I do?” he cried out dejectedly, already full of fear.
“You stopped.”
“What do I do now? I feel like my feet are too heavy to move.”
“Look at the hole you made in the fences,” I said. “Now look at the top of that wall, and start walking. When you get to the wall, keep going. Do not stop to rest. There is no rest to be found by hanging on the side of that wall, so just keep climbing until you get to the top.”
To my great relief, he started moving forward again. He was going much slower, but he was moving. When he got to the wall, he began to climb, slowly but steadily. When I knew that he was going to make it, I went to the wall and quickly climbed it so that I could meet him on the other side.
I knew Stephen would be thirsty, so I waited for him by a stream. When he got there, he was a little surprised to see me, but very glad. I was just as surprised to see the change in him. Not only were his eyes shining more brightly and clearly than ever, but he walked with a confidence and nobility that was stunning. I had seen him as a soldier of the cross, but I had not seen him as the great prince who he obviously was called to be.
“Tell me about it,” I said.
“It was so hard to start walking again and then to keep walking, I knew that if I ever stopped, it might be too hard to ever start again. I thought about the ones you told me of, the ones who knew the name of the Lord, but had never climbed that wall to walk in faith in His name. I knew that I could become one of them. I decided that even if I fell, even if I died, I would rather die than stay in that prison. I would rather die than not see what is on this side and not make the journey that I am called to make. It was hard, even harder than I thought, but it is already worth it.”
“Here, drink from this stream. You will find all of the water and food that you need on the journey. It will always be there when you really need it. Let the hunger and thirst keep you moving. When you find the refreshments, rest for as long as they last, and then keep going.”
He drank quickly and then stood up, anxious to move on.
“I will not see you again for a time, so there are a few things that I must tell you now that will help you on the journey.”
Stephen looked at me with a focus and brightness that was marvelous. Those who have known the greatest bondage will love liberty the most, I thought. I directed him to look at the highest mountain that we could see.
“You must now climb that mountain. When you get to the top, look for as far as you can see. Mark well what you see, and look for the path that will lead you to where you are going. Make a map of the way in your mind. That is where you are called to go.”
“I understand,” he replied. “But can it be seen from one of these lower mountains? I’m no longer afraid of climbing, but I am anxious to get on with the journey.”
“You can see places from these lower mountains and get to those places much faster. You could choose to do that. It will take longer and be much harder to climb that high mountain, but from there you will be able to see much farther and see something much greater. The journey from the high mountain will also be more difficult and take longer. You are free, and you can choose either journey.”
“You always take the highest mountain, don’t you?” Stephen asked.
“I know now that it is always the best, but I cannot say that I have always chosen the highest mountain. I have often chosen the easiest, quickest way, and I was always sorry when I did. I now believe that it is wisdom to always choose the highest mountain to climb. I know that the greatest treasure is always at the end of the longest, most difficult journey. I think that you, too, are that kind of treasure hunter. You have overcome great fear. Now is the time to walk in great faith.”
“I know that what you are saying is true, and I know in my heart that I must climb the highest mountain now or I will always choose that which is less than I could have had. I am just so anxious to get going and arrive at my destination.”
“Faith and patience go together,” I responded. “Impatience is really a lack of faith. Impatience will never lead you to the highest purposes of God. Good can be the greatest enemy of best. Now is the time to establish a pattern in your life of always choosing the highest and best. This is the way to remain close to Wisdom.”
“What else are you supposed to tell me before I go?” Stephen asked, sitting on a rock, wisely choosing to be patient and receive all that he needed to know before he left. I thought that he might already know Wisdom better than I knew Him.
A Warning
“There is another wisdom that is not the wisdom of God, and there is another one who calls himself ‘Wisdom.’ He is not Wisdom; he is our enemy. He can be difficult to recognize because he tries to appear as Wisdom, and he is very good at it. He comes as an angel of light, and he usually brings truth. He will have a form of truth, and he has wisdom, but it has taken me a long time to be able to distinguish them from the Truth and the Wisdom. I have learned that I can still be fooled by him if for one moment I start to think that I can’t. Wisdom has told me that we can never outsmart the enemy—our defense is to learn to first recognize, and then resist him.”
Stephen’s eyes were wide as that “knowing” look came over him. “I know who you are talking about!” he interjected.
“I met a lot of people in the prison who followed that one. They were always talking about a higher wisdom, a higher knowledge. They always seemed like noble, fair people, but they felt foul. Whenever I told them about Wisdom, they said that they knew ‘Wisdom,’ too, and that he was their ‘inner guide.’ However, when I listened to them, I did not feel I was being led to freedom like they said, but rather to an even stronger bondage in that prison. I just felt darkness around them, not like the light I felt when I talked with Wisdom. I knew they were not the same.”
“The true Wisdom is Jesus. You know that now. True wisdom is to seek Him. Any wisdom that does not lead you to Jesus is a false wisdom. Jesus will always set you free. The false ‘Wisdom’ will always lead you to bondage. However, true freedom often looks like bondage at first, and bondage usually looks like freedom at first.”
“It’s not going to be easy is it?” Stephen lamented.
“No. It is not going to be easy, and it is not supposed to be. Suspicion is not the same as true discernment, but if you are going to suspect anything, suspect what seems easy. I have not yet found ‘easy’ through any door or on any path that has been right. Taking the easy way may be the surest way to be misled. You have been called as a soldier, and you are going to have to fight. Right now the whole world is in the power of the false ‘Wisdom,’ and you will have to overcome the world to fulfill your destiny.”
“Already I have had to do things that were harder than anything I have ever done before,” Stephen reflected. “But you are right—it is hard, but it is worth it. I have never known such joy, such satisfaction, such hope. Freedom is hard. It is hard to have to choose which mountain I climb. Back there, I knew that I could have chosen to not climb that wall. I felt like the fear of making that choice was the wall inside of me. But once I had made the choice, I knew I would make it over the top. But does it ever become easier?”
“I don’t think so, but somehow ‘hard’ gets to be more fulfilling. There can be no victory without a battle, and the greater the battle, the greater the victory. The more victories you experience, the more you start to look forward to the battles, and you rise even higher to face the bigger ones. What makes it easy is that the Lord always leads us to victory. If you stay close to Him, you will never fail. After every battle, every test, you are much closer to Him and know Him much better.”
“Will I always feel that darkness when the false ‘Wisdom’ tries to mislead me?”
“Has anyone ever made it to their destiny without being tricked?”
“I don’t think so. Even the great Apostle Paul admitted to having been foiled by Satan. Peter was tricked a few times that were recorded in Scripture, and we do not know how many other times that were not recorded. But don’t be overly concerned about being deceived. That is actually one of his biggest traps. He sidetracks many by having them fear more in his power to deceive than to have faith in the power of the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth. Those who have fallen into this trap not only fall into increasing bondage to fear, but they will attack anyone who walks in the freedom that comes with faith. I am quite sure that you will not make it far up that mountain before they ambush you.”
“And they know the name of Jesus?” Stephen asked, a little confused. “They must have known His name to get over that wall and to have gone that far. I mean, didn’t they really know His name once?”
“I am sure they did. But stand and look throughout the valley ahead around every mountain. What do you see?”
“It looks like little prisons. It looks like there are many just like the one I came out of!”
“That’s why I was surprised when you told me that Wisdom had said this was the only prison, but after I was there for just a little while I understood what He meant. Look at the high walls. Look at the fences. They are all the same. If you are captured along the way, they will not bring you back here. They know you would choose death over that, but they will take you to one of the other prisons. When you get close to them, it is hard to see that they are prisons from the outside, but inside they are all the same, with people divided and imprisoned by their fears.”
“I’m glad you showed them to me,” Stephen offered. “I did not even see the prisons when I was looking this way from the top of the wall or when I was looking for the mountain I am to climb. And you think I will be ambushed many times by those who will try to capture me and put me in one of them? And these people will be using the name of Jesus?”
“The Lord, Himself, warns in Scripture that in the last days many will come in His name, claiming that He is indeed the Christ, and yet they will deceive many. Believe me, there are many like that, and I do not believe that most of them know they are deceivers. I can tell you a characteristic I have seen in all those whom I have met—they quit while on their journey, stopping short of their destiny. It takes faith to keep going, and they chose to follow fear rather than faith. They begin to think that fear is faith and actually see the walls of fear around their prisons as strongholds of truth. Fear will do that to your vision and you can start to see strongholds that way. Few of these people are really dishonest. They are sincere, but they are deceived by one of the most powerful deceptions of all, the fear of deception.”
“Should I fight them?”
“I understand your question and have asked it many times myself. They destroy the faith of so many and do far more damage to the sojourners than all of the cults and sects combined. There will be a time when all such stumbling blocks will be removed, but for now they, too, are serving a purpose by making the way harder.”
“Wisdom wants it to be harder? It is already so difficult just battling our own fears. Why does He want to make it harder by making us battle all of these fearful people as well?”
“The journey will be exactly as easy or hard as He wants it to be. This life is a temporary journey used to prepare those who will reign with Him over the age to come as sons and daughters of the Most High forever. Every trial is for the purpose of changing us into His image. One of the first things we must learn on this journey is not to waste a single trial, but to seize them as the opportunities that they are. If your path is more difficult, it is because of your high calling.”
The Necessity Of Discipline
“Many are called, but few are chosen. Many will come to the wedding feast, but few will be the bride.”
We turned to see Wisdom standing behind us. He appeared as the young athlete that Stephen had come to know.
“Run the race that is set before you, and the prize will be greater than you can understand at this time. You know the discipline that it takes to prepare for the race. Now discipline yourself for righteousness. I have called all to run, but few run so as to win. Discipline yourself to win.”
Then He was gone.
“Why did He leave?” Stephen asked.
“He said all that needed to be said at this time. He spoke to you of discipline. I would take that to be a most important word for you at this time.”
“Discipline. I used to hate that word!”
“He spoke to you about the race. Were you a runner?”
“Yes, I am very fast. I was always the fastest one in my school and was even offered a scholarship to run for a major university.”
“I take it that you did not accept it.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Was it because of a lack of discipline that you did not go to college?”
“No! It was...” There was a long silence as Stephen looked down at his feet. “Yes, I think it probably was.”
“Don’t worry about that now. However, you must understand something. Most who are potentially the best in every field or occupation never even become high achievers for the lack of that one thing—discipline. What you are doing now is much more important than track or college. Obviously discipline has been a weakness of yours, and it has cost you much already, but in Christ all things become new. In Him, the very things that have been your greatest weaknesses can become your greatest strengths. You are now His disciple. That means that you are ‘a disciplined one.”
“I know that you are telling me the truth, and I know that this is one race I do not want to lose.”
“Do you see the path leading up the mountain?”
“Yes.”
“Its name is Discipline. Stay on it if you want to reach the top.”