Olly Olly Oxen Free

Olly olly oxen free is a catchphrase used in such children's games as hide and seek to indicate that players who are hiding can come out into the open without losing the game. - wikipedia

Have you been hiding? Hiding the person you really are? Hiding your dreams? Hiding from what God has created in you?

When I asked God to show me what grace is, I had no idea He would want to teach me so much about a beloved piece of art He created. No, not the sky, or the trees, or the birds, or the ocean. Not His amazing Word, or His saints who have come before. He wanted to teach me about a creature He knit together with great care and joy in the darkness of my mother's womb. Me.

I am a middle child. Shy. Quiet. I asked my mother what I was like when I was really, really young, and she said I liked to play alone. I could be alone for hours, creating my own fun in my head. My own controllable stories. I have always been that way. I have so many ideas, so much wonder, so much desire....but so little that comes up and out. Still shy...still quiet. Afraid of being heard, and at the same time, afraid of not being heard.

So I hide. I still try and play alone. In my own head. Controlling my outcome. But I have found that my game is no fun. My stories are predictable and anticlimactic. They always end the same way. In the air...floating away like a vapor.

But there is another game. Another story to be a part of. And it is absolutely spectacular. I hear God calling..."Olly olly oxen free! All of you children, who have been in hiding...come on out. You will not lose the game by showing yourselves!"

All we need to do is believe that when He says You are Free...You are Free Indeed. Free to be you. Free to jump into the flow of His Grace...His Story. He has a special part for you to play, and He created you especially for that part. What a waste it would be if you did not play. What a travesty it would be to tell God what His creation can and cannot do.

Grace means knowing you are enough, you have enough, because your Source is unlimited.

And knowing that In Him, you are in a perpetual state of olly olly oxen free.

But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”

Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.” - Exodus 4:10-12

The Lord gave me this message: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

“O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”
 
The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”  Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said, “Look, I have put my words in your mouth!" - Jeremiah 1:4-9
 
Speaking of speaking...I have decided to come out of hiding to enter this post for a chance to win a scholarship to the She Speaks Conference this year. She Speaks Conference is about women connecting the hearts of women to the heart of our Father God, and I would be thrilled to play any part in that, as He leads. Click here to view more details on this outstanding scholarship opportunity.