trbccoffeebreak

“I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, Remember my chains, Grace be with you.” Colossians 4:18 (ESV)

“You just don’t understand the position I’m in right now. My life is such a mess there’s no way I could possibly help anybody else.  I just don’t have time to commit to church right now.  When things calm down, maybe I can get more involved.”

Sentiments I’ve heard numerous times over the years from friends and family.  As they were somehow convinced that the circumstances in their lives determined how they could serve the Lord. Fully surrendered to the assumption that their location in life determined everything. Always waiting for things to be better before taking the initial step of faith.

Paul was chained to the wall of a prison cell as he wrote this letter to the church in Colossae.  He wasn’t being lavished with hot baths and extravagant meals.  He had been beaten and arrested for sharing the gospel of Christ.  No one was giving him antibiotics and treating his wounds with tender loving care. What he was seeing and living in the physical realm was disheartening.

However, during his time in prison, Paul wrote four letters that are sometimes referred to as the “prison epistles” – Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon.  In those letters, he encouraged believers to rejoice in spite of suffering, anxiety and continue to look to Christ as their object of faith and hope.  He continually prayed for the souls of his “spiritual” children.

He often referred to himself as a “prisoner of Christ” (Ephesians 3:1).  Yet he didn’t share it with resentment.  It was a position he willingly embraced.  He wasn’t stating his situation as a plea for sympathy.  But he was speaking about it from a place of authority.  Something he had learned that no matter the physical location of the body, his heart (soul) was safe with the Lord.  He was already “seated in Heaven” (Colossians 3:1) and his physical location was just a temporary hinderance.

When Paul told the people at Colossae to “remember my chains”, he was encouraging them to remember that they “are more than conquerors” through the blood of Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:37)

Louie Giglio states “there is no circumstance in life including being chained to the wall of a prison cell that can stop Almighty God from accomplishing through your life exactly what he intends to accomplish through your life.”

When life starts to overwhelm us, it’s easy to want to retreat from the world.  Tell ourselves the lie that somehow “it’s easier to do nothing” and just “go with the flow.” But those lies will only keep you paralyzed with fear – instead we should focus on the truth of who we are, not where we are in life.

“Father remind us today that no matter what chains we may be burdened down with in our lives, those things can’t keep us from our purpose.”

For His Glory,

Laura Holmes   (www.ephraimministries.org)
TRBC Women’s Life