I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord . . . (Eph 4:1)
Do you ever feel trapped? Trapped in a marriage, smothered by your family responsibilities, stuck in your job, caught in time and going nowhere? What an awful feeling! Kind of like that a fly on the flypaper. People think you’re dancing and having a good time, but they don’t know you’re really trying to wiggle off the floor. But you can’t move! How depressing it can get sometimes. And how lonely you can feel. You can’t get out and staying in is no picnic either. You’re stuck.
Paul felt stuck. All he ever wanted was to be a good guy and do the right thing and it landed him behind bars. He was following the Lord and serving people but now he was in jail with a lot of time to think. He wanted to get out and be free, but he was confined inside and option less. Does that kind of sound like you? Do you feel trapped and stuck like Paul . . . a prisoner of sorts to the circumstances you didn’t sign up for? You know you only have one life to live yet you feel restricted and isolated and you feel no better than a mole in a hole.
But do you want to climb out? Then do what Paul did. He changed his perspective and called himself a “prisoner of the Lord”. He didn’t blame his accusers who landed him there and he didn’t even blame Rome. He knew he had committed his life to the Lord and with that he was convinced that whatever happened to him it was allowed by the Lord for some good reason. You know what happened after that? He started making lemonade out of his lemons! He began to do something positive because of that God-given optimistic attitude. He shared his faith with the other captives. He sang hymns. He wrote letters that have impacted countless people to this day. And he prayed for everyone he could think of. You see . . . possibilities started to open up for him.
You might feel stuck in the muck, but you can cash in and get some bucks if you’ll simply say like Paul . . . “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord!”
Louie
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