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Prisoners of Hope

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Ready to quit

That’s it. I quit. I simply can’t do this anymore. Maybe homeschooling teen boys isn’t the best idea.

Closing the door behind me, I allowed the churning washing machine to drown out the noise throughout the rest of the house.

Seriously??? Who tossed detergent all over the walls and sides of the machine?

 Scrubbing furiously the mess off the wall, I longed to clean the fury staining my heart.

Screaming at my kids left me exhausted, filled with guilt and shame. This opened a door for a thought-waged war.

  • You should’ve put them in school.
  • They are regressing.
  • You are holding them back.
  • Their attitude is from yours.
  • You’re ruining your family.
  • You should quit.
  • You can’t control them.
  • You can’t write to encourage people; look at your own mess.
  • You are trapped.

Prisoner of circumstance

I confess I’m prone to feeling a victim, a prisoner, of circumstances at times. As I escaped to the laundry room, all my thoughts were condemning messages lacking all hope.

My husband called to check on me. He offered his best effort at encouragement. “There’s hope.”

“There’s no hope. Well, yes, there’s hope in Jesus, but there is no hope for this situation. I’m stuck.” Why couldn’t I simply shut my mouth? Every time I opened it, words flew out that filled me with regret. I knew they weren’t true.

Prisoner of hope.

These were the words I saw in my notes app hours after my tantrum. Prisoner of Hope. I’d typed it exactly one month ago when I read Zechariah.

“Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.” Zechariah 9:12

We aren’t prisoners of our circumstances. We are prisoners of hope. And He calls out to us, “Return to your stronghold.”

Return to your stronghold

I’d abandoned my stronghold while allowing the enemy to build his own.

A stronghold by definition is a well-fortified place. Scripture grants insights to both sides of strongholds.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

I was allowing my fears to run as wild as a toddler drunk on red food coloring.

War Well

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” 2 Cor 10:3-4

“The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” Psalm 9:9

Back to Him I flee. Back to the safety of His embrace.

Return, O prisoner of hope.

We don’t let ourselves become prisoners of the enemy because we’ve been set free. We are redeemed. We are His prisoners of hope.

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9

You are a daughter (or son) of the King. He comes to you.

I’d felt a raging monster, yet here He comes to me. Gentle. And I melt in His tenderness.

“Tell Daughter Zion, “Look, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” Matthew 21:5

Our burden bearing King came toward us riding on a burden bearing animal. We need not carry the burdens, entrapping ourselves under the back-breaking weight.

What burdens do you carry? Your King is coming to you. He came. He is here. He is coming again.

You are His beloved, His prisoner of hope. Don’t let the enemy lie to you. You don’t belong to him. You aren’t his prisoner. You are a prisoner of hope.

 

 

 

 

 

How a simple song can shift everything

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When I hear God

I seem to hear God the clearest when I’m in the shower or on a run. Maybe because I can’t multitask or fall into distraction with the ding of the phone or the hum of life. On one particular day, I lingered in the shower as the Lord dropped in my mind images and instructions from His Word.

I recently found myself in situations that felt like a constant assault from the enemy. One thing after another. I found it so easy to fall into despair and discouragement.

When I don’t like what I hear

I felt the Lord say, “Sing.” My initial thought went something like this, “I don’t feel like singing.”

I heard the words of a friend saying to do the right thing doesn’t have to come from feelings first. In fact, often we must make a choice to do what we don’t feel like doing. It will feel uncomfortable at first but over time, the feelings may follow. I’ve pondered that because my feelings stop me from doing the right and good thing far too often. When that person is wrong according to me, I don’t feel like showing love. Yet, I should.

Sometimes I have this interaction with God where it’s a back and forth volley. I am giving all my reasons and justifications for why what He says makes no sense to me. Yet, He patiently listens then offers maybe a word, or a picture, or a scene, or a song.

On this day as I told Him I didn’t feel like singing, He brought to my mind the scene from the Grinch where Christmas was stolen and they gathered and sang. It wasn’t circumstance that propelled them to sing. It was from a place of deep contentment and satisfaction. God wanted me to sing from a place of trust.

But there’s another part of that movie I’d forgotten, the part where the Grinch is describing his disdain for the Whos and their love of Christmas. The Grinch says, “And then they’ll do something I hate most of all….” He describes the Whos gathering close together and doing what he hates. “They’ll start singing.”

The Grinch envisioned them singing and became more agitated as he leaned into his dog, Max’s, face saying, “and they’ll sing and they’ll sing, and they’ll sing, sing, sing, sing, sing.” The narrator goes on to say the more the Grinch thought of the singing the more he realized he must stop the whole thing.

We are familiar with how the story goes. He steals Christmas but he couldn’t steal their joy. He couldn’t steal their singing. The material Christmas gone, they gathered and sang anyway.

What God speaks is for our good

The enemy hates singing. Singing is a proclamation that we are firm and steady despite the current situation.

Within minutes of God reminding me of this scene, a song came to mind. I raise a hallelujah. Side note: Do yourself a favor and play this song.

I looked up the lyrics.

Verse 1

I raise a hallelujah, in the presence of my enemies

I raise a hallelujah, louder than the unbelief

I raise a hallelujah, my weapon is a melody

I raise a hallelujah, Heaven comes to fight for me

Chorus

I’m gonna sing, in the middle of the storm

Louder and louder, you’re gonna hear my praises roar

Up from the ashes, hope will arise

Death is defeated, the King is alive

Verse 2

I raise a hallelujah, with everything inside of me

I raise a hallelujah, I will watch the darkness flee

I raise a hallelujah, in the middle of the mystery

I raise a hallelujah, fear you lost your hold on me

Bridge

Sing a little louder

In the presence of my enemies

Sing a little louder

Louder than the unbelief

Sing a little louder

My weapon is a melody

Sing a little louder

Heaven comes to fight for me

Tag

I raise a hallelujah

 

What My Singing Actually Proclaims

I remember reading Beth Moore’s book Praying God’s Word and her saying our peace is a secret weapon. When we sing despite our storm, we proclaim our peace out loud.

As I read the lyrics to this song, I realized what I was singing is who God is. He is King. Our hope is alive. He reigns, no storm I face is bigger than my ruling and reigning King. Our hope is in Him not our circumstances here.

A song changes what is happening in my heart by redirecting my attention and affection to God. Off myself, onto God Himself. A song proclaims His goodness. A song sends the darkness away. A song allows Heaven to fight on my behalf.

 

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!

Psalm 100:1-2