I'm going to screw with all you people because I know that earlier, or maybe not, that I have decried Harry Potter* in the past. If I haven't, well, I think HP is just a cheap way of satan getting his foothold into the next generation therefore somehow ruining God's plan for them [spoiler alert: it won't work]. After all, Harry does go to a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But I digress. No, seriously. Don't be fooled by Daniel Radcliffe's pretty face. HP deals with some pretty intense stuff.
Why am I going to screw with you in regards to the fearless hero of the book/movie series? Because Daddy God screwed with me when He spoke to me in my bed while I was in Toronto for a conference [more on that later]. He actually had the nerve to tell me, "You're Harry." What?! What are You saying?!
I suppose I should start at the beginning for those who have no clue what Harry Potter is about...other than what I told you, I mean.
It begins with Harry Potter living with his aunt and uncle and cousin in a cozy neighbourhood on a quaint little street in jolly old England. Sounds nice, right? It isn't. Because his aunt and uncle and cousin all treat the poor guy horrendously [they even make the dude LIVE in the cupboard under the stairs]. So the poor guys is being abused by his family and he resigns himself to the reality that he will endure the abuse forever and ever [I'm not even sure about that part; it's been a long while since I've read it].
But wait!! Harry soon gets loads of letters from Hogwarts [he doesn't know it at the time]. His family hates that he gets mail so they throw every letter away and goes on vacation with him [it's really not a vacation for Harry]. One night, though, Harry is visited by this giant by the name of Hagrid. Harry is thrown for a loop. What's even more, he is thrown for such a loop when Hagrid says...
"You're a wizard, Harry."
Track with me here. There's a point to this. You have this young boy who's been so abused by the people in his life that he has NO idea what is going on when somebody tells him that he's meant for bigger and better things. In the film, the exchange goes like this:
Yeah. He was surprised by that. So you can probably imagine my surprise when Hagrid's voice kept whispering in my mind: "You're a wizard, Harry. You're a wizard, Harry. You're a wizard, Harry. You're a wizard, Harry." On and on it went until finally I rebuked Hagrid in the name of Jesus. Then Daddy God was all, "No, Mandie. LISTEN. You're a wizard, Harry."
Only instead, to my spiritual ears anyway, He was saying, "You're a wizard, Mandie." Does this mean that I'm a wizard? No. He was basically saying, "You're My daughter. You're My princess. You need to rise up and take your place in My kingdom. You need to rise up and take your place of authority over everything that I have given you. You need to rise up and take your place in the position that I have anointed you for, and to rise up and take your place to destroy the works of the enemy and all that he has stolen from you. Rise up, child. Rise up, rise up, rise up, rise up, rise up!! RISE UP AND TAKE YOUR PLACE! It's your destiny!!"
I don't know about you, but I feel like Harry before he discovered he was a wizard. He was resigned to the fact that his life, in that cupboard underneath the stairs, was as good as it would ever get. Until Harry found out that he was actually a wizard, he felt like a bag of dirt. No, not even that. He felt like a big huge nothing. After all, he was told that over and over and over by his relatives. No, it wasn't until he found out that he was a wizard that he began to see things differently. He began to think differently about who he was and who was supposed to be.
That's kind of like us. We just go about our lives, doing whatever it is we're doing, not realizing the truth about ourselves; the truth about who we are meant to be. Until God hits us over the head with a word or a sermon or even a song, we have no idea about who we are.
We are His beloved and He is our Beloved. Nothing can, or ever will, change that. Sure, the enemy will try to steer you from that truth [much like Voldemort, the antagonist, tried to make Harry think that he was nothing special and that he, Harry, would never be able to destroy him]. But all we have to do is stand on God's Word and promises and be like, "No, you're wrong! I AM good enough and I AM God's warrior and I DO have destiny."
The Harry Potter series is all about somebody rising up and realizing who they are and going after what is theirs. Yeah, Harry does face huge battles and yeah, his enemy is completely ruthless in his plan to destroy Harry Potter. But Harry never loses sight of what he's fighting for and neither should we.
We OWN this world. We OWN everything that we see. God has given it to US. He created Eden for US. He gave Adam ALL authority over earth and water so that WE can enjoy it...even though we never really got to enjoy it. Until now. Until 2000 years ago when He sent His Son to die on that cross. He sent His Son to die so that Jesus could pay the price for our sins and HE was the one who went into Hades. Not us. And three days later He rose again....holding the keys to unlock OUR inheritances. OUR rightful place. Just like Harry was born to be a wizard, we were born to rule and reign with Daddy God and Christ the King.
You're a wizard, __________.
*And now I want to read the series. But I won't. Because I don't trust myself.