Category: Overcoming

”We’re surrounded. That simplifies things.”

Posted on by FullLifeWord

Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller, was the most decorated Marine in American history. He was one of two United States servicemen to be awarded five Navy Crosses and one Army Distinguished Service Cross.

Puller retired from the Marine Corps in 1955 after 37 years of service. He lived in Virginia until his death in 1971 at age 73. In was during WW II and the Korean War that that he was decorated for his leadership and for numerous acts of bravery.

During the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in Korea, Puller’s forces became encircled by over a 120,000 enemy troops. The enemy were under orders from their leader, Mao Zedong, to destroy the UN forces.

His succinct and transparent assessment of the Chosin Reservoir situation was one for the history books. Upon the realization that they were completely surrounded, Puller declared; “We’ve been looking for the enemy for some time now. We’ve finally found him. We’re surrounded. That simplifies things.” Clearly his problem statement, coupled with the realization that his options were rather simplified, could not have been more understated. In the end, Puller was credited for his part in leading his troops to breakout and subsequently escape the entrapment.1

Unlike Puller’s assessment of his limited options, our modern lives seem to present us with an endless series of digital options for which we may choose. These options are found in our social media, video content, gaming, etc., are so numerous that they seem only to function as a fragile shield from reality.  Yet they offer little in the way of lasting value, instead they’ve become a facade of life, bringing only the allure of escape from our difficulties without actually contributing to anything of lasting value.

In some ways these digital options have led us to live out a life of dissatisfaction. They genuinely keep us from welcoming that deep contentment our souls really long for. Product advertisers work hard to continue our slide into dissatisfaction with waves of sound bites, ads, video clips and the alike, all aimed at one message: “The solution to your dissatisfaction in life lies in the purchase of our product or service. Buy it and you’ll have the contentment you’ve been seeking.”

Have you ever seen yourself in this situation? I know I have at times. It’s easy to drift into this labyrinth of distraction because we are surrounded by the constant message that we should be discontent with life.  But I want you to know that there is another path to choose that will lead to real, deep, and true contentment in this life. It’s a path found in a single choice, yet it offers us an eternal peace and contentment that reaches deep into our souls.

The scriptures speak about this deep contentment. The Apostle Paul wrote:

“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

Paul was a man faimular with living life in times of good and in times of bad. He also suffered a medical condition that he asked to God to resolve, but the Lord didn’t heal him. Instead the Lord told Paul; “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness’ “(2 Cor. 12:9–10). You see, in this one act, the Lord revealed to Paul the frame of mind that he needed to carry with him in life. He was to find his contentment, not in his being perfectly healthy or in the many things of this life, but singularly in his dependency upon God’s grace for living out each day.

Long before Paul’s time, King David penned the first sentence in one of the most recognized Psalms ever to be recorded in all literary history. He wrote: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want“ (Ps. 23:1, emphasis mine)

For King David, all he needed was one thing, and he found that in God. Here was a King who could ask for anything, and I’m sure he had many options to choose from. But he saw only one option, and that was the option to love the Lord, and only the Lord with all his being. God was central to his life. He realized that true contentment could only be born out of a genuine relationship with God. With God at his side, he could live his life fully content, without want, because he knew God would provide for him.

Let’s face it, contentment is learned from experiences in life, and when we’ve found the true source of contentment, it will lead us to the ability to conquer circumstances and situations, rather than be conquered by them. The critical factor is in understanding where we get our contentment from. With real contentment we’ll be able to live out our lives with attitude that is the exact opposite of living with worry and anxiety.

Paul also wrote:

“Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11–13, NRSV)

Outside of God, many fall into the trap of believing our contentment will come when we have more power, money, perfect health, the model family, the latest fashions, a new car etc. The desire to seek all these things overwhelms our senses with endless options that we must process each day. Living our lives this way simply ramps up our personal stress and anxiety. Mostly because our point of comparison (Other people, fashions etc.) are in continuous flux, which invariably leaves us in a disjointed state of contentment. Yet, if we were to practice contentment and rest in the Lord, the way he would desire us to, then the things we would focus on would be simplified considerably and we would experience true inner contentment, independent of life circumstances.

Does seeking our contentment in the Lord mean we isolate ourselves from the world around us, that we are not allowed to enjoy the pleasures of life that God has given us?

“No!”

There is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying the blessings of God. Thomas Kempis said it well:

“Use temporal things but desire eternal things. You cannot be satisfied with any temporal goods because you were not created to enjoy them. Even if you possessed all created things you could not be happy and blessed; for in God, Who created all these things, your whole blessedness and happiness consists.”-(Thomas à Kempis 1380-1471) 2

What are the important and eternal things?

How about relationships? The very first one of which is our personal relationship with Jesus, without which we are unable to achieve lasting contentment. When our relationship is right with God, then every other options becomes clearer and their relative importance becomes easier to discern.

The bible encourages us to invest in the lives of those around us, whether they be our family, co-workers, neighbors, the recently arrived immigrant, or simply a person we bump into during our day to day activities. (Matthew 19:19)

When our relationship is right with God we can be at peace with all other relationships, even if the recipient is not receptive to us. The point is, we can live contently, because all of that extraneous stuff now falls within the purview of God, it’s really beyond our control. We cannot control how others respond to us, we can only control how we respond the them.

The same principle applies to life. I cannot always control my health situation, I may be able to influence it, but in the end I must remain content, knowing, that from an eternal perspective, my health is covered by God already.

Choosing to be content in the Lord is to simplify our options to the things that really matter in the grand scale of eternity. With God, we have contentment despite our life circumstances, and with that contentment comes a degree of peace for which nothing else compares.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesty_Puller

(2) Elliot Ritzema and Rebecca Brant, eds., 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Medieval Church, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

 

Released from the Prison of Our Past

Posted on by FullLifeWord

Known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies”, The United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum( ADX), is prison just outside of Florence, Colorado. It was built in 1994 at a cost of $60 million dollars. ADX was designed to house the worst of the worst offenders. Most prisoners enter ADX with multiple life sentences. They’re the kind of people that even other high security prisons don’t want to be responsible for.(1)

The prison itself exists in a desolate geographic area, designed such that once inside, a person loses all sense of direction. There are no windows, except a few small openings facing the sky directly above. Inmates spend their days in 12-by-7-foot cells with thick concrete walls. Each cell comes equipped with a set of double solid steel doors, thus preventing inmates from seeing or communicating with one another. Inmates are permitted solo workout sessions in an indoor “gym”, a windowless concrete cell with a single pull-up bar for up to one hour per day. (2)

All meals are provided via a slot built into the interior door, visible only after a guard opens the exterior door. Inmates sleep on concrete slabs covered by a thin mattress. The exterior of the prison is surrounded by a series of twelve-foot fences festooned with coils of deadly sharp razor wire. The facilities and grounds are covered with thousands of motion detectors, cameras, and pressure-sensitive sensors. This is not a place anyone would ever wish to end up in. It was once described by former warden Robert Hood, as a “clean version of Hell.” To date, no serious escape effort has ever been attempted much less succeeded.(3)

The future is bleak for those incarcerated in ADX. A hopeless place to spend the balance of one’s life. The only way an inmate leaves ADX is after they’re dead. They will never again taste the freedom that was once theirs.

There are different kinds of prisons in this life. Some are tangible like ADX, while others are virtual and personal. Often these virtual prisons are built from the artifacts of one’s own past.

For many, our pasts can lock us out of the present. In effect, we become a prisoner, securely locked from the present, prevented from experiencing a life filled with true freedom in the present. As is often the case, many have pasts filled with hurt and disappointment. In some cases, our pasts include some form of physical or emotional trauma.

At times we can believe that we’ve conquered the hurt from our early life experiences, only to discover later, that despite our best efforts, there exists of an ember of our past which has remained alive and unquenched.

For these situations, it only takes the right set of circumstances to fan this ember into the flames of disappointment and hurt, to relive the pain experienced over a lifetime of trauma. It’s here that the abused sometimes becomes the abuser, becoming the very person they had most despised. For some, a sense of real peace about their past is often just out of reach.

The scriptures remind us of this generational cycle of hurt that so easily is passed from parents to children, often through multiple generations. God warns about such a possibility when he expressed caution to those that chose to reject and hate him. He said; “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,” (Exodus 20:5, NIV)

The “punishment,” or practical consequences of a parent’s choice to hate God, impacts their children, but not all children, only those children that become adults and continue to actively model their parent’s hatred towards God.(4) But when children in subsequent generations are able to break the cycle of hatred, then the effect is to experience God’s love for many generations to come:

“but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:6, NIV)

If you judge yourself to be held captive by some sort of trauma in your past life, and if you seek to genuinely be the one to break the cycle, then the logical question to ask is: “How does one proceed? “

In the very first step, we must surrender our lives totally and completely to God. We need to become followers of Jesus. It’s only from this relational perspective that we have the beginnings of real change available to us.

We then need to understand and apply the principles and power of forgiveness that the scriptures teach, followed by the establishment of healthy boundaries in all our relationships.

One of the most powerful tools we can use to break the cycle of hurt and to free us from our past, is found in the principles of forgiveness that scriptures call us to seek out.

Peter once explored this topic of forgiveness with Jesus, as captured by Matthew in the Gospels:

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:21-22, NIV)

In Peter’s day, there was a rabbinic perspective that one need only to forgive another three times, and then afterword’s, no more forgiveness should be offered up. (5)

At the time he was asking these questions around the topic of forgiveness, Peter was in the process of growing in his relationship with Jesus. He had observed that Jesus often approached faith in a non-legalistic way. Jesus consistently approached life from the perspective of God’s grace and love. In a way, Peter was attempting to seek out the rules around the boundaries for forgiveness. Peter clearly felt it pretty good to suggest that he might consider more than doubling the number of times one might offer forgiveness, from three to seven times!

He was likely surprised by Jesus’ response, when Jesus said “…not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” In this expression, Jesus was communicating that there are no practical limits to forgiveness. In fact, living out forgiveness was one way that the followers of Jesus conducted their lives. It’s a distinctive of the Christian faith. The backdrop of course, is found in the ultimate reality that each of us have been forgiven by God with his unlimited grace. Thankfully, God hasn’t limited the number of times he has forgiven me.

The Apostle Paul further helps us make that connection between our forgiveness to others and Christ’s forgiveness towards ourselves when he wrote:

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13, NIV)

You see, when we fail to forgive, in a way we’ve taken on the weight of the offense in our own lives. Ultimately, such a choice can’t help but become expressed in our behaviors. It impacts our hearts and our minds. Sadly, such unresolved offenses can end up driving us to becoming the person we’ve most dreaded.

God reminds us that harboring our feelings in this way is not healthy, and in the end, the offense is not ours to carry. Ours is to release it to him and to allow God to deal with the offender. Paul further shared:

“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19, NIV)

Our part in this life is to act on God’s desires through faith, to prayerfully ask for his grace in our lives to forgive others, thus allowing us to be released from our past.

In all of this, we must be prepared that our release of forgiveness towards others may not result in a reciprocal response from the offender. Even as we forgive the offender, the offender may not respond in kind or even acknowledge the offense perpetrated against us.

We furthermore must accept that only God can change their hearts, and therefore their ways of living. (Just as he changed our hearts which has lead us to change our lives and enabled us to offer forgiveness to others.) Even as we have forgiven them, they may remain the person they are, and they may in some ways continue to offend us. The Apostle Paul recognized that this was possible. His counsel was to not worry about how the other person might or might not respond. The point is, you have done in faith as your Lord has asked, having forgiven the offender and having turned the matter over to the Lord for final resolution. Paul shared:

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18, NIV)

The second key step is to establish healthy boundaries in all of our relationships, but particularly with those that have or continue to offend towards us, even after we have forgiven them, perhaps multiple times.

It’s not practically possible in this allotted space to expand on this very important topic of relational boundaries. For those of you who are interested, I highly recommend the following resource:

“Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of your life.” by Henry Cloud and John Townsend, published by Zondervan, 2017.

Cloud and Townsend explore this topic in depth, and I believe that this topic, coupled with the application of forgiveness towards those that have offended or harmed us in our past, offer a great start towards freeing our present from the prison of our past.

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(1) “Five Most Inescapable Prisons in the World,” Google,accessed August 18, 2018, -https://www.mazim.com/maxim-man/5-most-inescapable-prisons-world.html
(2) “Inside Americas Toughest Federal Prison,” NY Times, accessed August 18, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/3015/03/29/magazine/inside-americas-toughest-federal-prison.html
(3)“Fast Facts Supermax Prison,” FoxNews, accessed August 18, 2018, https//www.foxnews.com/story/2006/05/04/fast-facts-supermax-prison.html

(4) Walter C. Kaiser, Peter H. Davids, F.F. Bruce, Manfred T, Brauch, Hard Sayings of the Bible, (Downers Grove:InterVarsity Press, 1996), Deuteronomy 24:16.
(5) Gary M Burge, Jesus The Middle Eastern Storyteller,(Grand Rapids: Zondervan 2009),p.72

Continue reading “Released from the Prison of Our Past” →

Restored From Loneliness

Posted on by FullLifeWord

I read a news story posted on the WebMD website about a survey on loneliness in the United States. It concluded that our nation faces:

“widespread loneliness, with nearly half of Americans reporting they feel alone, isolated, or left out at least some of the time. The nation’s 75 million Millennial’s (ages 23-27) and Generation Z adults (18-22) are lonelier than any other U.S. demographic.

In addition, of the 20,000 people sampled, 54% of respondents said they feel no one knows them well, and four in 10 reported they ‘lack companionship,’ their ‘relationships aren’t meaningful’ and they ‘are isolated from others.’ Douglas Nemecek, MD, Cigna’s chief medical officer for behavioral health, said the findings of the study suggest that the problem has reached ‘epidemic’ proportions…’. Loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, making it even more dangerous than obesity,…’(1)

Initially, I was somewhat surprised to see such results, particularly in the younger generations that seem so “connected” via phones, tablets, computers, and other tools that grant them access to a myriad of social media sites.

One would think that our newfound capacity to communicate would have reduced our sense of loneliness. In fact, the average person in the U.S. is more connected than anytime in our country’s history. Statistically, a typical American today comes into contact with more people in a single year than most did over an entire lifetime 100 years ago. (2)

Data from just one social media company, Facebook, illustrates the degree by which we have adopted our connected lifestyles. In the U.S., 156 million unique monthly visitors access Facebook each month.(3) A disproportionate number of these are younger people, presumably the most connected of all in our society. 48 million users or 88% of all 18–29 year old’s, and another 52 million users or 84% of all 30–49 year old’s are among those that connect regularly with Facebook.(4) (5) And that’s just one social platform among many where such connections occur.

In the presence of this data, how is it possible for our country to be facing an “epidemic” of loneliness along with its accompanying health consequences?

All of this caused me to ponder what loneliness really is. One of the more common clinical definitions I found in several resources described loneliness as a condition “ …marked by painful feelings of sadness and longing and almost always by the absence of, yet felt desire for, relationship with others” (6)

Bottom line: Without meaningful relationships we’ll quickly find ourselves living in a state of misery.

Social media often gives us the appearance of meaningful relationships, but in reality, social media “relationships” are a far cry from the depth and quality of real-life relationships. We as human beings are living, breathing, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual beings. We’re fundamentally designed to live in relationship and community. We have a basic built-in need to interact with one another in real-time. To live outside of this reality is to promote isolation, and isolation fosters loneliness and stress.

To illustrate the stress of isolation on the human mind; many years ago an English doctor built an experimental room to test its effects. This soundproof room was more akin to a large box suspended by a series of nylon ropes. Volunteer subjects were all given padded gloves and translucent goggles to eliminate the sense of sound and sight. All meals were eaten in the isolation chamber and the volunteers were observed via a one-way screen. Volunteers were allowed to exit the experiment at anytime. In the end, most could not tolerate more than five hours of isolation. In fact, even after as little as an hour, with the knowledge that they could exit at any time, most volunteers had increasing feelings of panic and anxiety.(7)

No doubt, numerous factors contribute to the high level of loneliness being experienced by our society today, yet I couldn’t help but notice that the very same demographic experiencing the highest levels of loneliness, are coincidentally the same groups that are increasingly distancing themselves from God’s offer of a loving, meaningful, and personal relationship with their creator.

About a third of older Millennials (adults currently in their late 20s and early 30s) now say they have no religion, up nine percentage points among this cohort since 2007, when the same group was between ages 18 and 26. Nearly a quarter of Generation Xers now say they have no particular religion, or they describe themselves as atheists or agnostics, up four points in seven years. (8)

The religiously unaffiliated population – including all of its constituent subgroups – have grown rapidly as a share of the overall U.S. population. The share of self-identified atheists has nearly doubled in size since 2007, from 1.6% to 3.1%. Agnostics have grown from 2.4% to 4.0%. And those who describe their religion as “nothing in particular,” have swelled from 12.1% to 15.8% of the adult population since 2007. Overall, the religious “nones” have grown from 16.1% to 22.8% of the population.(9)

To be sure, there are many drivers that no doubt contribute towards a society plagued with loneliness. However, we can be rest assured that loneliness was never part of God’s original plan for us.

A few examples:

1. God desires to partner with us in carrying the burdens of this life:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”-(Matthew 11:28)

The rest implied here isn’t like a vacation, rather it’s a type of rest that gives us room to breath and strength to continue, it allows us to manage through the challenges of life that often weigh upon us. Jesus has access to the Father and the resources of the Father, His invitation is extended to everyone that recognizes their spiritual need for a relationship with Christ. Our access to Christ, means our access to the Father and his resources. Christ equates the Christian life with spiritual rest which does not allow us to escape the hard life, rather to experience rest and refreshment in its midst. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

2. God is committed to walking beside us through all of time.

“…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mathew 28:20b)

One of the great hallmarks of a meaningful relationship is when one chooses to come along side another over a lifetime. I know of several friends and married couples that have successfully navigated the challenges of their lifetimes through loving mutual support found in their relationships. Yet even this level of dedication to one another, pales compared to the promises of Christ. Christ promises to not only walk with us through this finite human life, but to remain with us through all of time and eternity.

3. God loves us with a deep sacrificial love that goes beyond any human capacity to love.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

God loves you and I in the ultimate sense of the word. His love for us is sacrificial in nature. It has no bounds in terms of his sacrifice, which has afforded us the opportunity for an eternal relationship that starts the moment we say “yes” to his offer of forgiveness and reconciliation.

4. God’s love for us is perfect.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)

God is capable of loving us more perfectly than any human being could love another. This is so, because only God can know our hearts and minds with absolute completeness. No human relationship can claim that level of relationship. Only God can know our heart in its totality, capturing and understanding all of our true motives and feelings.

5. God has demonstrated his love and desire for us to be in relationship, even when we were living outside of relationship with him

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8)

God desires a relationship with us entirely on the basis of grace, our relationship is not founded on how good a person might be, or how many good things I’ve done in this life. It’s founded entirely on his grace. This is evidenced by his intentional love for you and I, even in the face of our rejection of him.

6. God enables us to grow and fulfill our God given purposes in life whenever we choose to walk in relationship with him. In so doing, we are connected to him in a deep and powerful way.

“I am the vine, you are the branches, if you remain in me and I in you will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5)

No other relationship in the world can enable us more than our personal relationship with God. When we are close to God and surrendered to him in our personal relationship, his character will be expressed and lived out in our lives. The Apostle Paul included in his list of qualities that God values, such things as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (See Galatians 5:22-23)

Among these qualities, the one held the highest is love, but not in an emotional sense, rather in an outgoing and self-giving series of actions sense.

Are you one of the lonely?

I encourage you to look deep into to your heart and be totally honest with yourself.

If you find that you are lonely, feeling disconnected and living out your life without deep and true purpose, then the first step is to move towards total surrender of yourself to Jesus, for he loves us without condition or pretense.

If you already have a relationship with Christ, but perhaps have grown distant, then take a moment and pray, ask God to help you drop your guard and allow him full reign in your life. Let no aspect of your life be off-limits to God, put it all before the cross. He can’t fix our hearts until we allow him in to do so. Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart as we speak, don’t ignore him, don’t turn aside, he loves you and desires more than anything in this world to welcome you into an abiding eternal relationship with him.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

If you have never followed Christ, and you sense the desire to do so, then pray and ask God to receive you into his family. Commit your life and surrender it totally and completely to Christ, trusting in faith that the work Christ did on the cross for you will be sufficient to save you for eternity.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

You can talk to God by praying, using your own words. There are no special formulas. Just pray from your heart to God, and He will save you. If you feel lost and just don’t know what to pray, here’s a prayer of salvation that you can pray:

“Dear Lord,

I admit that I am a sinner. I have done many things that don’t please you. I have lived my life for myself. I am sorry and I repent. I ask you to forgive me. I believe that you died on the cross for me, to save me. You did what I could not do for myself. I come to you now and ask you to take control of my life, I give it to you. Help me to live every day in a way that pleases you. I love you, Lord, and I thank you that I will spend all eternity with you. -Amen”

Because we know that we are designed to be a people in relationship, if you prayed this prayer, or if you have recommitted your life to Christ, you need to find a Bible believing church that you can join in your area. Perhaps where you live there are no formal churches to attend, (Often this is the case for those living in countries where Christianity is feared by the authorities and has been banned.) if so, ask God through prayer to find a way for you to connect with other believers. He will honor your prayers.

Once you find either a church or a group to fellowship and pray with, commit to meeting regularly and supporting one another. Study the scriptures and allow God’s word to grow within you as he grows in relationship with you.

Only through the power of Christ will you be released and restored from the grip of loneliness.

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(1) Tate, Nick. “Loneliness Rivals Obesity, Smoking as Health Risk.” WebMD, WebMD, 4 May 2018, http://www.webmd.com/balance/news/20180504/loneliness-rivals-obesity-smoking-as-health-risk.
(2) ibid, 754
(6) S. A. Cappa, “Loneliness,” ed. David G. Benner and Peter C. Hill, Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology & Counseling, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999), 698.
(7) Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 753.Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 753.
(9) ibid

Opt Out of the Fear Prison

Posted on by FullLifeWord

“So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.” (Acts 12:5)

It’s hard to escape the reality of the news these days. The world around us seems so out of control. Even close to home I sense the stress of a broken society. It’s reflected in our abandoned value systems where we once cherished character traits such as honesty, truthfulness, and honor in our word to one another, along with commitment to respect those in authority over us, whether at work, school or even in our homes. We have become disconnected from a system of values that were ultimately founded upon God’s principles for successful living.

We instinctively sense and the scriptures confirm that “God is not a God of disorder,” so when things are in disorder and disarray we know something is very wrong. Scriptures tell us that when individuals care more about themselves, abandoning Gods values in favor of pursuing self through envy and selfish ambition, “then we find disorder.” (1 Corinthians 14:33, James 3:16)

Such disorder leads to fear, which drives its own set of unhealthy behaviors that are manifested and reflected all around us.

Fear is an interesting topic. There are different kinds of fears in life, and not all fears are bad. Some fears are about the physical world we live in; fear of fire, heights etc. When viewed in context I would characterize these as “safety fears.” They remind us to respect the physical laws of our world so that we lessen the chance of hurting ourselves in our day to day living.

In the spiritual realm there’s something I describe as “reverent fear,” it’s a respectful fear of God, acknowledging His vast creative and saving power in our lives. This type of fear is one that helps us recognize God’s role in our lives, it reminds us of our total dependency upon God’s grace and provision for everything, even the very breath we take.

Then there is what I would call “foreboding fear.” This type of fear is the fear of an unknown, a dread of impending or possible distress or misfortune that might befall us in the future. It’s often founded and reflective of many underlying and deep personal fears within ourselves. It builds until it’s resolved, and until it is resolved, it can grow and become a paralyzing fear. It’s the kind of fear that can isolate us from those around us. It’s also the kind of fear that if left unchecked can take over and overshadow any joy that we might have in our lives.

This kind of fear is a type that the Evil One would desire believers to embrace, because it signifies that our reliance and confidence in the Lord has been replaced by the temporal concerns of this life, even if those concerns are of a great value and weight.

The Apostle Peter faced such fears. He and many others had been rounded up by the government because of their faith in Christ. (Acts 12:1-19)  King Herod saw that the popular religious leaders reacted favorably to the arrest of James, brother of John, and so he had Peter arrested as well.

Peter found himself in prison, alone with his fears, locked and shackled with a bunch of guards to keep an eye on him until after the Passover celebration was completed. He may have been there for several days; plenty of time to think about life and how brief it might soon become.

While he was in prison his brothers and sisters in Christ were praying for him. Prayers are to bring glory to God, and He always answers our prayers, even if we may not always understand the answers at the time.

God had plans for Peter that had yet to be fulfilled. He allowed Peter to remain a prisoner right up to the last minute, until the night before his trial which would have no doubt ended poorly. That night, God sent an angel who freed Peter from prison and allowed him to escape. Not for Peter’s sake, but for the future purposes that God had in mind for His kingdom.

Peter was genuinely surprised by his escape and it was clear that he did not fully grasp what God had in store for his future.

I’ve often wondered what Peter might have been pondering while in prison. Perhaps he reflected on his trust in God for all of the past parts of his life, which included the complete and total forgiveness of his past sins. Perhaps he thought about the fact that he also trusted God for his future, when his physical body would one day die and be received by Jesus into Heaven. Hopefully after all of his pondering and thinking while he was in prison, that he concluded that even in his current state, as hopeless as it might have appeared, that he should feel the peace of trusting Jesus for the present since he had already trusted Him for his past and his future.

Of course such trust for the present can only be possible after we’ve resolved in our minds and hearts that the God we worship is big enough and powerful enough, and loves us enough to always be with us no matter what may happen in this present earthly life.

I cannot say with certainty that either I or my family will remain safe from harm’s way in this world. Even Jesus himself was not kept from death, yet in His death we now find life. But I can say with certainty that I have had to make the intentional choice to trust God for whatever future might unfold for either myself or my family.

Our walk with Jesus is a continuous journey of surrender…and surrender again, and again. Ours is to surrender the very people that we love the most. Our Heavenly Father did exactly that with His son Jesus. He surrendered that which was closest to Him, the person he loved the most. And he did that for you and me and the countless many who would come to follow Christ in the years to come.

My prayer is that the Lord would give you peace and security in your heart and mind, and that in that peace your strength and hope would be renewed.