American author, Napoleon Hill, once stated, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve” (source – also, see Genesis 11:1-6 NLT). Unfortunately, the reverse is true as well, as the following story attests to:
The story is told of a man who once went to the circus with his young daughter. He was surprised when he saw a group of eight elephants and found that each was tethered by only a small rope attached to a ring on an iron leg shackle. Each of the small ropes was tied to a much larger rope that was staked to the ground.
The ropes and stakes were no match for the size and strength of the elephant. Any one of them could have easily walked away to explore the nearby shopping mall. The man couldn’t help but wonder why they didn’t break free, so he questioned the elephants’ trainer.
He discovered that when elephants are very young, they are chained by the leg to immovable stakes. For several weeks, they struggle to free themselves. Little by little, they come to the realization that they can’t move about freely when they are tied by the right rear leg.
From the moment this conditioning takes hold — after about three to four weeks — the trainer said that you could tie an elephant with a string and he wouldn’t move as long as the shackle was on his right rear leg. The elephants at the circus didn’t roam about, because they believed they couldn’t. The tether in their minds were stronger than any chain or rope.
Beloved, as followers of Christ, what is it that we believe we can’t do? (Philippians 4:13; cf. Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 11:20-24; Luke 17:5-6).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
The ropes and stakes were no match for the size and strength of the elephant. Any one of them could have easily walked away to explore the nearby shopping mall. The man couldn’t help but wonder why they didn’t break free, so he questioned the elephants’ trainer.
He discovered that when elephants are very young, they are chained by the leg to immovable stakes. For several weeks, they struggle to free themselves. Little by little, they come to the realization that they can’t move about freely when they are tied by the right rear leg.
From the moment this conditioning takes hold — after about three to four weeks — the trainer said that you could tie an elephant with a string and he wouldn’t move as long as the shackle was on his right rear leg. The elephants at the circus didn’t roam about, because they believed they couldn’t. The tether in their minds were stronger than any chain or rope.
Beloved, as followers of Christ, what is it that we believe we can’t do? (Philippians 4:13; cf. Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 11:20-24; Luke 17:5-6).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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