Joy in prison? Where’s the joy in losing freedom? (And I could say “joy in quarantine” and it’d be even more personal, right?)
I woke up this morning thinking about joy. Joy is a condition of the heart and not necessarily a feeling. It’s a state of mind that transcends circumstances.
You may feel like you’re a prisoner because your coming and going is severely limited. But if there can be joy in prison, then there can be joy anywhere. And it’s not dependent on what’s happening around you.
Here are two questions for you to answer before I go any futher:
- What was the worst punishment you remember getting when you were a kid?
- What do you do to lift your spirits when you’re in a funk?
So, scoot your chair in close, kids. Uncle Tony is going to tell you a story.
There is an ancient account in the book of Acts – chapter 16.
Our main characters are Paul and Silas. In verse 16, we see these guys encounter a fortune teller. This slave girl was making a good living for her owners. When Paul and Silas show up, she starts following them around – for several days, in fact – hollering “these men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved!” (V. 17, NIV).
This gets on Paul’s nerves. This girl wasn’t lying, obviously, but she wasn’t the kind of person that Paul wanted to be identified with. It made him and Silas look more like sorcerers than missionaries. So Paul commands the evil spirit possessing this girl and giving her her abilities to leave. Done.
Needless to say, the owners of the slave girl saw their livelihood dry up. Poof. So they grab Paul and Silas, drag them before the authorities, and say, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” (V. 20). Okay, then.
Things don’t go well for Paul and Silas. Instead of a formal trial, which legally they were supposed to have, they’re stripped and beaten by the crowd – “severely flogged,” the scripture says.
They are thrown into prison. The jailer puts them in an inner cell, puts their feet in stocks, and stands guard over them.
Now things get really interesting. Joy in prison? Riiiiight.
Verse 25 says, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”
Imagine you’re another prisoner. You have to wonder, “What’s up with these guys? Why are they singing? What is there to pray about? Don’t they realize how bad things are for them?”
Let’s stop for a moment. This is evidence of joy in prison. Check this out – the joy these men are experiencing and displaying is not dependent on the circumstances they’re in – it’s dependent on who they have a relationship with. Hello!
You’re probably several steps ahead of me by now. You may feel like you’ve been in prison the last few weeks. At the very least, you’ve had to monitor where you go, who you’re with, and what you can and can’t do.
Have you been joyful through all that? Have you experienced joy in your prison?
Scripture says, “Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. All at once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.” It’s worth noting that not only were Paul and Silas freed, everyone else was, too.
I’d encourage you to read the rest of the passage for yourself. It’s good stuff. You can read about the response of the jailer – who wanted to kill himself because of his perceived failure – and his question of “What must I do to be saved?” (That’s the most important question anyone can ever ask, by the way.)
When you think about there being joy in prison, that just doesn’t seem possible, now does it? In this account, though, Paul and Silas experienced joy first, and then freedom. They weren’t freed and then felt joy. Joy preceded freedom.
Man, that’s good.
Let’s wrap this thing. Let me help you today.
- You may feel that you’re imprisoned. I’m not talking about simply being quarantined. You may feel like you’re a prisoner of your thoughts and emotions.
- Maybe you are dealing with the blackest funk imaginable. You don’t have COVID-19, but some of what you’re experiencing is just as bad, just not in a physical sense.
- And yet – you can be joyful. But it’s not a joy that you can dredge up from within yourself.
- Remember – you can be unhappy and joyful at the same time. That’s a paradox, but it’s so. Happiness is transient. Joy is eternal.
- What Paul said to the jailer, verse 31: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” Ka-pow! Boom! Think the jailer experienced joy then? Because now, the fact that all the prisoners were freed – which would have been reason for despair – was negated by the joy of his salvation.
Point – you can experience joy in prison, no matter what that prison might be.
It’s futile to try to “feel good” on your own during these challenging days. Oh, you might have moments of pleasure when you are able to have one of your favorite meals delivered, of if you score on some toilet paper. But that won’t last.
People, your unchanging, amazing joy is all wrapped up in your relationship with Jesus.
I assure you, He will sustain you in your prison. One day you’ll be free in every sense of the word.
Until then, joy is readily available. Just don’t think you can experience it with your own resources.
O be joyful.