IMPRISONED

So these guys were thrown in jail for something they swore they didn’t do, their jailor on the other hand was convinced they did. In spite of their innocence and how it all went down, they ended in jail anyway. Someone bigger and stronger and with way more authority had them shackled and on lock down. One minute they were free, traversing the streets – going about their business and the next minute, their freedom was gone. The ability to make choices; the very thing that defined their individuality was gone! They could no longer choose. Someone else defined what they should do, how they should do it, and controlled their when, where and why. Their rights were handed over to the jailor of the 2x4 cell that imprisoned them.

I don’t know of anyone who’d rather be jailed, no matter our current predicaments. And yet many of us are jailed – if not physically, perhaps spiritually or emotionally. Some of us are jailed financially, others mentally. In certain aspects of our lives, we’ve lost the freedom to choose what to do, how to do it. We’ve lost our when, where and why.

Who’s your jailor? What has imprisoned you and seized from you the ability to dream, to define and reach for your purpose?
It could be wealth or the lack of it
It could be family and friends, perhaps what they’d think of you
It could be flailing health or unfit bodies
It could be blackmail that threatens to rock the stability of our world
It could be work that’s increasingly becoming depressing
It could be spiritual oppression, depression or a complete lack of spirituality
It could be restlessness of soul and spirit – that place where nothing fulfills you
It could be that image that’s just so…the one you’ve worked so hard to project to the public.
It could be a painful past that won’t just let go no matter how hard you try…
It could be the way your mind processes things – shaped by antecedents we are unaware of or unable to shake off.
It could be a myriad of a million things – single jail, multiple jails, no matter. Lock down steals our liberty.

So just like those men, we are imprisoned, our very essence – our what, how, where, when and why handed over to something or someone else.  The jailor who from then on makes choices we unwittingly live by.

I followed up the story of those guys in jail. I wanted to know how they got out – so I could get out too. It bothered me to realize that I am saved but still shackled. I need every aspect of my life – spirit, soul and body – free.

So when I met them again in Acts 16 verse 25 – 28, they told me a riveting tale. So there they were locked down, not knowing what the future would bring, pondering, reframing their steps, wondering if there was something they could have done another which way. Nothing brought relief or hope. So they resorted to the only comforting activity they knew. An activity no jail can bar you from.

Praise…
At Midnight…

I think they were actually just praising Him to find inner peace, not physical release. They got both. Imagine how the foundations of the prison were shaken, the jailor holding the key wasn’t even there when their shackles were broken and the prison doors open!

Praise invites God’s presence and God’s presence restores liberty.
Didn’t He sacrifice His son for our liberty?
He can release you
He can restore you
Just one midnight praise will do it.

Cause when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
When the Lord turned again the captivity of ID, wow!!! Am I dreaming?
When the Lord turned again your captivity, wow!!! Are you dreaming?
IDO, Nov 2015