In Prison No More

We are in a severe lockdown in our part of the country. Everything is closed again. You can still shop, but after awhile even that wears thin. You go shopping and then straight home. You’re not allowed any visitors on your property, neither can you visit anyone except a single person if you are the one designated person.

And it is discouraging, especially if you’ve been following the rules.  Is there no relief or reward?  The numbers go down, and we get a brief reprieve, then they’ve gone up, and we’re locked in again.  A normal life seems so far away when the virus never seems to end its dirty evil work.  There is no doubt that these lockdowns bring great stress, duress, sadness, panic, depression, addictions, abuse, loss of jobs, family, friends, your health on every level, and even your life.  You dare not get sick and need hospital care because they’ve run out of beds, and now ship you out of province, away from your family, whom can’t visit you anyway.  In every sense of the word, it feels like we’re in a prison. 

I have asked God many times what is the purpose of this from a spiritual standpoint?  First of all, I had to discover that it was more than just being ordered to basically stay at home that has been causing me to feel “locked in,” or “caged in,” like a prisoner. I think back to other times in my life when I felt similar, that I was in a prison - would it ever end, would I ever be free?  Many of our prisons are self-made, and they are the worst kind because you have to come to terms with yourself.  The first time I can remember feeling like I was in a prison was when I was a teenager, and I became addicted to drugs.  Also, throughout most of my life, I was addicted to tobacco.  Addictions are a prison all their own - something else is directing your life. You feel you have no control over it.  I’m happy to say I was delivered from drugs and eventually from smoking.

Then there are prisons of our negative thinking and lack of faith.  I suffered with years of depression. I still don’t know the real cause of it.  I read many books on how to overcome it, I went for counselling, was offered medication that I couldn’t take, and finally, I attended a self-help group similar to AA, and I got free of the depression.  I learned to lean on God, accept and express my feelings, make things right with God and others, and even myself, and within a couple of years, armed with the right tools and knowledge I needed, I was free!  A few years later, though, after a series of unfortunate circumstances, I suffered with a severe anxiety disorder.  This led to a loss of my job, loss of health, loss of social life, loss of living (it took a huge toll on my overall health).  Many years of my life I was unable to travel or do other things because I didn’t have the money or the energy.  Anxiety, and/or nerve fatigue, takes everything out of a person.

 One of the most wonderful things I learned during these very difficult times, is that when we are weak and needy, this is when we actually cry out to God, and draw closer to God.  In our weakness He is made strong. 

 2Co 12:9  And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

2Co 12:10  Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 

 During these times of weakness, I discovered were to be the most precious times I ever spent with the Lord, learning of Him, and from Him.

But we must be ever aware of Satanic traps set for us.  Satan is our enemy, and he will viciously and constantly attack us in our thought life.  If we’re not careful and cognizant of satanic “popped in” suggestions, we can create our own prison by accepting the wrong thoughts and developing the wrong attitudes towards others and God.  This is what Satan hopes, to poison our thoughts, and disrupt and cause dissension in all our relationships.  Why? Because it is through relationships with God and one another that God reveals His lavish love for the world to see.  So, this is where Satan will most often target.  It will also create unforgiveness, and we will naturally separate and isolate from one another (sad to say, but we don’t need the government to tell us to distance ourselves).

Unforgiveness creates a prison for us regardless of what the other person has done.

Besides relationships, there are other negative thoughts the devil will try and plant in our minds, like thinking - “Will this COVID NEVER END?” The devil wants us to believe that it will never end. We may wonder, “Will my pain never go away?” or “Will my partner or my kids never change?”  “Will I be stuck in this job forever?”

 What are some other traps you can think of that leave you feeling like you are in a prison?

Well, the biggest thing that keeps us in a prison is our own sin. People think that their good works will cancel the sin, but this is not true. Our own good works will keep us in a prison of sin. I used to think that you had to be a good person all the time, and knew I could never be good enough, so I just gave up altogether and continued to live a sinful life. But my sins caught up with me, and I found myself in a worst prison than I could ever have imagined. I had a nervous breakdown to boot. I had run out of all my own resources, and medicine didn’t help. I was desperate, and so I cried out to God. He did hear me, and He did save me in a miraculous way. He forgave me and took my heavy weight of sin, healed me, and filled me with His unshakeable peace. I was never the same again, and nor would I ever want to go back to the life of slavery to sin.

What is the answer for being in a prison? There is only one answer, and that is Jesus. Take a look at this:

Luk 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Luk 4:19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

I love the part, “to preach deliverance to the captives.” Who are the captives? You and I! We are captive by our own sin.

And I love this verse also,

2Co 3:17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

What does this mean? It means that when you feel or sense an oppressive sprit, that is not God! You can rebuke that spirit and know that God’s spirit gives you immeasurable freedom (in line with all that is righteous and all that He approves of).

There’s more:

Joh 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

So even though the messages of the world and ungodly people may try to make you a slave to what they want, Jesus always has complete authority. They are only allowed to go so far, and then no more.

And I love these verses. I quote it (I John 4:4) often when I feel that I’m under any kind of attack:

1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

 If you feel that you are in a prison for any reason, I hope you can take to heart, and know that nothing is too great for our God. Reach out to Him with a simple prayer, and He will hear and answer, and He’ll lift your heavy burden, whatever it might be.

You might like to read about the life of the Apostle Paul, who spent several years in prison and continued to rejoice in His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  And we can do the same. Praise and thankfulness bring deliverance, because our God of the Hebrew Bible and of all creation, is worthy, and He is the only one who can set us free. No man, no nation, no government, or vaccine can do that! Only Jesus can!  So, take heart, as I am, that no matter what kind of government regulations are handed down because of Covid, or any other thing, nothing will be able to steal our real freedom, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord!

Joh 8:36  If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.