Wild. I’ve always had a touch of it in me. I laugh a little too loud. I feel a little too intensely. I love a little too fiercely. I care too much. My imagination has a tendency to run too far. I crave adventure and travel. I like action and adventure movies. I’ve tried my hand at fulfilling my lifelong goal of finding buried treasure (I know it sounds a little cray). I’m a passionate person. And yet there have been so many things that I’ve held back because of fear. Fear of failure, imperfection, rejection, and other lies I’ve believed for too long. Lies that are binding and crippling to the heart.

Chances are you feel the same in a lot of ways. That deep desire to forge your way and make a difference. To do important work and to leave your mark on this world. To create and cultivate in all aspects of our lives: friendships, families, children, the work we do. We were created in His image, after all, the ultimate Creator who spoke the world into existence.

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary gives a lot of insight into wild, but there are a few that resonate with me:

Wild:

1. Living in a state of nature and not ordinarily tame or domesticated
2. Not subject to restraint or regulation
3. Going beyond normal or conventional bounds
4. Deviating from the intended or expected course
5. A wild, free, or natural state or existence

The opposite of Wild is tame. Controllable, controlled, mild, moderate, manageable. Looking further into “tame”, Merriam-Webster gives the following definitions:

Tame:

1. Reduced from a state of native wildness especially so as to be tractable and useful to humans.
2. Made docile and submissive. Subdued.
3. Lacking spirit, zest, interest, or the capacity to excite.

I can’t help but think back to our original design in the garden as beings created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). All the wild that must have been. Living in a state of nature. Not subject to restraint or regulation. Walking with the creator of the world (i’d say that’s going beyond ‘normal’ bounds), and not dealing with normal expectations. Anything was possible. Hearts that were totally free to love without worry or restraint. Able to witness and partake in unrestricted and unbridled creativity flowing from the hands of God.

To top off the wonder that Adam beheld in that sacred beginning, the next thing that God did was to give all creation to him.  Genesis 1:28 God said to man, “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

The ancient Hebrew word for subdue is kabash, meaning to bring into bondage, make subservient, dominate, to tread down.

Does this remind you of our definitions of tame? Humans were never meant to be tame. God commanded us to subdue- to tame- the earth. To steward this awesome God-given gift.  

If we are made in His image, then we are created wild. To walk in step with the Holy Spirit. To let our hearts beat passionately to match the force of God’s. To not be bound by the physical world we live in, but to embrace the power living within us as followers of Jesus. To expect the unexpected and to go beyond what we can comprehend in our small, human minds.

Sweet sisters, are you wild? Let me tell you that you were NOT created to be tame.

You were created with a passionate love of our heavenly father. Destined to fulfill a sacred purpose. With a freedom in Christ to run your race and the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20). You are not bound to what others say you can or cannot do.

Is there anything in your life that is keeping you tame? Are you afraid to step out into something the Lord is nudging you towards? Don’t let it hold you back any longer. I’m praying for you as I write these words. That your heart will be so full of what God is speaking that you can’t contain it. That YOU will take up your callings with a renewed passion and sense of purpose.

I’d love to hear from each of you about what God is speaking to you about- what he may be calling you to do in the comments below. Let’s challenge and cheer one another towards His best for each of us!