Praising Him From Prison

For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear. Philippians 1:13-14 (NLT).

I recently pulled out an old VCR and threw in a couple of tapes from my high school days. Reliving our basketball state tournament run from my sophomore year and laughing as I reminisced while watching the Junior Miss competition tape from my senior year. As I was fumbling with the VCR and trying to get the tape to rewind to the specific parts of the videos I wanted to see, I found myself thinking just how convenient it would be if I were able to rewind to eight weeks ago. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, things have changed so drastically that many of us never would have imagined this is what our lives would look like at this point. Where’s that rewind button, again? Yeah, yeah, I know. Life doesn’t work that way.

When I first realized I would no longer be working, I came up with a schedule I was going to try to follow in order to keep my days structured and productive. I strayed from the plan pretty quickly, but one consistent part of my routine has been to escape to a quiet place outside on beautiful weather days. My home is in town, which has been a blessing for me during the busy seasons of life that have found me running between work, home, and the ball fields; however, I sorely miss the serene nature of life outside the city. Thankfully, I have recently found a second home on a soft spot of green grass down at Camp Nelson that has been a place of solitude and serenity on sunny days.

I pulled into the parking lot one day last week, hopped out of my car and grabbed my book, blanket, and Bible. As I was heading out to my usual landing place, I was particularly drawn to the display that provided historical information about that specific area at Camp Nelson. Though I had visited the same location numerous times over the last several weeks, I had never paid much attention to the display. As I approached, I found myself struck by what I saw: Camp Nelson’s Prison. I snapped a quick photo and settled in for some time in God’s Word.

Merriam-Webster defines irony as: the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning1. A place that had once marked imprisonment was now a landing place for freedom. One such definition of freedom is described as: the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved2. Wow! The irony of the situation seemed surreal. My mind was then drawn to one of the most infamous characters in the Bible, Paul. Many of his greatest Biblical works were composed while in prison, shackled in chains. Yet, Paul chose not to use his circumstances as a crutch. Rather, if you turn to Philippians 1:13–14, you find where Paul writes: For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear (NLT).

This situation of imprisonment that we all find ourselves in right now doesn’t seem fair. I asked myself, as I believe Paul would if he were amongst us today, how am I responding to my circumstances? I can allow myself to be chained to my conditions or I can choose to find freedom from prison and use this as an opportunity to share the love of Jesus right where He has planted me. There’s that concept of irony again. Appropriate, though, because irony is the very essence of Jesus.

We are weak. He is strong.

Darkness surrounds us. He is our light.

Storms are raging. He is our calm.

Chaos surrounds us. He is our comfort.

Fear grips our hearts. He is where we place our faith.

We are imprisoned. He is our freedom.

The Great I Am, Jesus Christ, is always the expression that opposes what our human hearts are feeling, especially in times of turmoil and uncertainty. As I opened up my Bible that day, I flipped to Ephesians, knowing Jesus would meet me there on those pages. In a time in our history where we are inundated with so much information from news sources and media outlets, I am finding it so essential to lean into God’s word and glean the truth from a resource that has withstood the test of time over thousands of years.

If given the choice, I know many of us would prefer to hit the fast forward button and skip to the end of this “tape,” an unprecedented period of captivity. While that option is not available, I want to remind you, as I have to remind myself daily, that we already know how this “tape” ends. As it is written in John 16:33, Jesus tells us: I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world (NLT).

Though we do not know how long we must bear the chains of social distancing and separation from those we love, we can be confident in the outcome and remind ourselves that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8 NLT). Just as God used Paul to minister to the world while he was in shackles, I believe He is calling each of us to do the same today in a world that so desperately needs a Savior.

Today, I am choosing to find freedom from prison. And that, my friends, can only occur because of Jesus. So when you find yourself overwhelmed with emotions of grief, sadness, and weariness thinking how you can possibly continue on during this difficult time, remember what is written in The Messenger translation of the book of Romans 8:18: That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

Cling to Jesus. He is our hope, and He will get us through this.

1. “Irony.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Accessed April 23, 2020. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irony.

2. “Freedom: Definition of Freedom by Lexico.” Lexico Dictionaries | English. Lexico Dictionaries. Accessed April 23, 2020. https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/freedom.