What if that golden cage you’re sitting in was never locked? What if all that “God’s will” rhetoric was just fear cosplaying as holiness? In this episode, I tell you a story, a simple one with birds, bars, and just enough metaphorical mic drops to wake up the part of you that’s been sedated by religious gaslighting. Buckle up, buttercup. It’s time to talk about freedom.

This isn’t just another chirpy motivational talk. It’s a truth-telling, cage-rattling invitation to examine the lies we’ve been fed about safety, love, and obedience, especially in the name of God. You were made to fly, not decorate someone else’s spiritual furniture.

Key Takeaways:

• The cage was never locked. You’ve been conditioned to think you’re choosing it, but that choice was built on fear, not freedom.
• That “protection” they sold you? It’s control in disguise. And the house full of golden cages? It’s not a sanctuary. It’s a system designed to keep you small, scared, and obedient.
• Even your longing has been demonized. Longing is labeled sin. Discontent? A character flaw. But maybe it’s your soul whispering, “There’s more.”
• Freedom is risky, but it’s real. There are storms and hawks and hard days out there. But there’s also wind, sky, stars, and the exhilaration of living unchained.
• Jesus doesn’t lock cages. He flings those suckers open and says, “Come on out, sister. It’s time.”

Related Resources:

• If today’s episode resonated with you, here are some others you may find helpful: “From Trapped to Free in 30 Days” and “Praying for a Miracle—When the Miracle Might Be You Walking Away.”

Article: Beautiful Prisons and Golden Lies

Once upon a time there was a house. And inside that house there was a cage. A bird cage. 

Actually, there were many bird cages, but let’s zero in on just one. Yours. 

The cage was beautiful, I’ll give them that. Golden bars catching the light. “Look at that lovely cage,” the Big People would say when they saw. “That bird is so blessed.”

And you believed them. At first.

The Big People told you this cage was your Creator’s design for you. His protection. His will. If you wanted to please your Creator, and oh, how desperately you wanted to please Him, you would stay right where you were. Safe. Contained. Good.

They painted pictures of the world outside your bars. Predators lurked there, they warned. Storms would destroy you. Evil waited in every shadow, ready to devour reckless little birds who dared to leave their cages. You heard whispered stories about those who flew away and were never seen again.

So you stayed.

Your wings grew soft. Your flight muscles weakened. The rhythm of your days became predictable, comfortable even. You told yourself you were grateful. You should be grateful. This was love, wasn’t it? This was safety.

But sometimes—just sometimes—you caught a glimpse of sky through the window. Wide and endless and calling to something deep in your chest. Something that felt suspiciously like longing.

The voices were quick to shut that down. “Temptation,” they said. “Discontent is sin. You have everything you need right here.”

You weren’t the only one. The room was full of golden cages, each one housing a bird just like you. Each door cracked open—always open, they reminded you. “See? You’re not trapped. You’re choosing this.”

And when your daughters were old enough, they lifted them gently into their own beautiful prisons.

This is how it worked for generations. This is how it would always work.

Until the day she came back.

She swept through that open window like a force of nature with feathers gleaming, wings strong and sure. She had lived in this room once, sat in her own golden cage, believed the same stories you’d been told.

But something had changed.

Her voice trembled with joy as she spoke of skies that stretched beyond imagination. Winds that carried her higher than she’d ever dreamed possible. Yes, there were storms out there. Yes, there were predators. But she had learned to fly through the storm, to outmaneuver the hawks, to rest in trees under a canopy of stars.

“Freedom is possible,” she said, and her eyes held a light you’d never seen before. “It’s beautiful. It’s worth it.”

The other birds shrieked. They turned away. The people in the house drove her out, shouting that she didn’t belong anymore.

And she knew they were right. She didn’t belong in the house. Not anymore.

But before she left, she looked straight at you. “Your cage was never locked,” she whispered. “The window has always been open. You were made for the sky.”

Here’s what they don’t tell you about cages: they’re not about your safety. They’re about their control.

The system needs you small. It needs you afraid. It needs you believing that the bars around you are love instead of what they actually are. A way to keep you manageable, predictable, useful.

You’ve been programmed to believe your smallness pleases God. That your silence is holy. That your fear of the unknown is wisdom.

But what if it’s not?

What if the God who created you with wings never intended for you to forget how to use them?

Jesus came to set captives free. He flung the cage doors wide. He opened the windows and called you to come out, come up, come alive.

But here’s the thing (and this is important!) you have to believe it’s possible before you’ll ever try to fly.

I’m not asking you to spread your wings and soar tomorrow. I’m not asking you to figure out the whole journey from here to there.

I’m asking you to do something much smaller and much more revolutionary:

Believe that freedom might be possible for you.

Just believe it. Let that tiny seed of possibility take root somewhere in your chest, right next to that longing you’ve been told to ignore.

You were made for more than this beautiful cage. You were made for wind beneath your wings and sky as far as your eyes can see.

The cage door has always been open.

The window has always been there.

And the sky is waiting for you.

But I don’t believe in forcing birds to do things they don’t want to do or aren’t ready to do. I only believe in invitations. Because isn’t that what God does? He invites us to the banquet. He invites us into Love and freedom. Always. His invitation stands every moment of every day. But he never coerces, or manipulates or threatens. 

Remember the story of the Prodigal son? The father represents God. The Father loved his sons whether they were living in slavery or reveling in His love for them. 

Did you know both sons were living in slavery? One was enslaved to his lusts and the other one was enslaved to good works. The father held an invitation open to both and embraced both when they came home to His Love.

This is how God is with us as well. Our lusts will never satisfy us and our rule-keeping and good works will never satisfy us. Only the Love of our Creator can satisfy and set us free.

If any of this resonates with your soul, and if you want a little guidance and help in getting from the cage to the window and from the window to the sky, I’d love to show you the way. I’ve been helping Christian women find their wings for almost ten years now, and there’s nothing more incredible to me than watching them fly free.

My Flying Free program is ridiculously affordable, and you can learn more and complete an application by going to joinflyingfree.com. But don’t go there unless you feel like it’s time. You need a change. You are ready for it. You are willing to do what it takes. The cage is no longer appealing to you, and you suspect it’s all been a lie. 

If you’re still feeling kind of comfortable there, then stay! Jesus loves all His daughters just as much whether they are living in cages or flying. When I was in my cage, Jesus loved me just as much then as he does now. Nothing changed on his end, only on mine. 

I wanted to learn the truth. I wanted to get the skills and the tools. I wanted to stretch myself. I wanted to get strong. I wanted to fly. And Jesus supported me and will continue to support me forever. 

This is Good News! When the prodigal son was squandering his money and starving, his father loved him. When the so-called “good son” was bitterly working hard in the fields, his father loved him. The father’s love never changed. The one who changed was the Prodigal son. It’s all about our sonship. Our daughtership. When we finally lean into that reality, we are free.

I’ll help you see how this works for you, too. Go to joinflyingfree.com to learn more. 

And one final thing. If you like stories and allegories and metaphors, I wrote a book you’ll love. It’s my spiritual memoir called All the Scary Little Gods. Even the title is a metaphor! 

It’s funny. It’s sad. And it might be your story too. I think you’ll see yourself on most of the pages. And that’s a healing thing. 

You can go to Amazon and get it in paperback, Kindle, or audible formats. It’s how my life changed after a lifetime of emotional and spiritual abuse, and it just might change yours! 

XOXO,

Natalie