Around this time of year, the beloved 1939 movie classic, The Wizard of Oz becomes to pop up on television networks for holiday viewing. I must say that since I was a child, it is one of my favorites. Even if I don’t sit and watch it in its entirety, I feel like I have to see a bit of it. And yes, after all these years I still am subject to shed a tear or two. I’m such a “mush”.

Amongst the many morals tucked within the story, my thoughts were drawn to Dorothy and her dear friends that she encountered throughout her frightening journey along the yellow brick road. To refresh your memory, the Scarecrow needs a brain, the Tin Man needs a heart, and lest we forget my favorite the cowardly lion who needs courage, and last but certainly not least, Dorothy wants to return home. They all were virtually “frozen in time” because they felt they could not move forward in life unless they somehow got what they so desperately wanted. So, when Dorothy crosses each of their paths, they all find that they have something in common. Little did they know that was true in every sense of the word! However, once they encounter The Wizard, who really isn’t magical or a wizard at all – everything becomes crystal clear.

As a result of walking with God for so many years, I expect Him to speak to me sometimes in very unorthodox ways. This happens to be one of those times. Just like Dorothy and her friends, I believe we often are pleading with God for something we already have! When we think that we lack something necessary to keep us from moving forward, we do just that. We don’t move forward. Sometimes months and years are wasted because of what we imagine that we need, that we do not think we have, so we STOP. Everything imaginable comes to discourage and frighten us as we journey along our “yellow brick road” of life. The amazing climax to the movie is so eye-opening and thought provoking. The very things Dorothy and her friends asked The Wizard for, they already had! They just simply did not know how to activate that which they already possessed. This is a lesson that God has proven to me time and time again. I hear and feel God urging me to do something, but I literally stall and for all intents and purposes paralyze myself because I think I am missing something that is necessary to complete the task. Yes, you read right — I said “paralyze myself”. We must recognize that we are sometimes guilty of setting up our own blockades. Oftentimes the blockades we set in our own way are the hardest to move.

The Scarecrow felt uneducated, but in the end, he discovered he possessed more knowledge than he thought, he actually was brilliant! The Tin Man was “locked” in a position of inactivity because he did not feel he had a heart that worked. But he found out quite the opposite when his heart was breaking at the thought of Dorothy leaving them. And oh yes, my lion, he was afraid of everything until he was forced to muster up the courage to protect his beloved Dorothy and friends! Dorothy thought that life would be better, fuller, richer, any place but home. But after experiencing life away from home and began to think she had no means of ever returning, she discovered in the end there’s really NO PLACE LIKE HOME! What is it today that you think you’re lacking? I urge you to look deep inside yourself, search your mind, your heart, and don’t forget to be keenly observant of your surroundings. I would venture to say that you have more than you think you have, and most certainly just what you need!

Source: First Lady Denise