In a scene from The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn asks Éowyn, “What do you fear, my lady?"
"A cage," Éowyn said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire.”
This speaks to desire, to Éowyn’s glory, as well as a response to what has come against her: wounds that lead to slavery, entrapment, cages.
Our enemy, with their poisonous words, has wanted a cage around us since Eve. He has tried to keep us from becoming who we already are, who God created us to be, Mighty Warrior Daughters of the King. Aragorn said, “You are a daughter of the King! I do not think that will be your fate.”
Why? Because she knows who she is and she knows how to fight against the true enemy.
I love this Nelson Mandela quote:
To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
Dang straight! Do you see? Our image-bearing, God-given strength is for the hearts of others and for advancing the Kingdom, as well as for our advancing against the kingdom of darkness!
This is what our God is up to.
An excerpt from The Deepening Weekend for Women
