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:

1. What was the worst punishment you remember getting when you were a kid?
2. 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.

 

 

I honestly can’t remember where I heard this, or I’d give appropriate credit … but there are two types of time in life – alive time and dead time.

I’m guessing you may have some time on your hands, unless you’re an essential worker. And I’ll pause to give a big shout out and much love to:

• Health care workers and medical professionals
• First responders
• Truck drivers
• Grocery, convenience store workers and other necessary retail
• Sanitation workers

There are plenty of others. These folks do NOT have the same kind of time as I do, or you either, most likely. They are away from home and family, and having any time at all is a luxury. My love and admiration know no bounds. We are redefining “hero” in these days.

But back to alive time and dead time. Most people, if they have some excess time, choose to kill it.

Killing time is more than just a saying.

Examples?

• Netflix
• Mindlessly scrolling on their phone
• Complaining or wishing their current situation away

We know these kind of people because we are those people. Ouch.

Right now, you and most of the world is on lockdown. I have yet to be able to wrap my head around that. “Surreal” is the term I keep returning to. It’s like watching a movie with no ending.

So what are we to do? I have some thoughts. I’m ready for some positive.

We can use this time to:

• Invest in ourselves
• Learn and improve
• Learn new skills
• Develop more intimacy with God

We can’t control the situation we’re in, but we can seize the moment. And how we react and use this time will determine who we are as people.

What do these days mean to you? What are you discovering? Don’t waste this.

Make your dead time alive time.

Here are my five initial thoughts. I’ll probably think of some more, but this is a starter. Hey – make your own list, too!

1. Master the art of resting. One thing I’ve heard over and over is that people are challenged by trying to be still and quiet. Ancient script admonishes us to “be still, and know that I am God.” That’s an art we’ve simply lost. I’m thinking about one specific teenager right now who was involved in everything, and I mean everything – team and individual sports, other extracurricular activities, a part-time job, in addition to “regular” school responsibilities. That kid has gone from 60 to zero virtually overnight. I bet they’re losing their mind … unless … they learn to rest. Folks, take heed. I believe all of us, with few exceptions, don’t know how to rest. What if you took thirty minutes a day just to sit in silence and just listen? I can’t tell you what you need to listen for. All I know is that you’ll recognize it when you hear it. It takes that long for all the racket and distractions in your head to settle down. Maybe you’ll hear that “still, small voice,” perhaps for the first time.
2. Make something with your hands. I’m seeing a lot of folks on social media putting together complex, involved jigsaw puzzles. That’s not my thing, but if it’s yours, or if it’s something you’d like to experiment with, good. Maybe you have some rudimentary art skills with paint, clay, or even crayons. Maybe you have wanted to try your hand at woodworking. Or working in the yard (definitely not me, but knock yourself out.) I’d even consider cooking, or writing, or a hobby in this category. That’s a big step toward making dead time alive time.
3. Read. Don’t balk. “I don’t like books,” you say. Well, I can’t fix that for you – maybe it’s just never appealed to you, or you were forced to read in school. Because of that, you said, “I’ll never read a book again.” Fine. I’d just quote Harry Truman: “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” You can read some things that are nourishing and soul-satisfying. You can read just to learn. But don’t blow off reading for sheer entertainment. Don’t hate. Don’t judge. I’m sticking with my opinion on this.
4. Wrestle with a challenging or controversial subject. I hope this makes sense in the context of dead time and alive time. Have you had a question that troubles you? For me, it might be some sticky theological issue. How, for instance, do you reconcile God’s sovereignty with free will? (I’ve read plenty from folks a lot smarter than me on this one. And since this is a question that hasn’t been definitively answered in a couple thousand years, I don’t think I’ll come up with it. But it’s fun to wrangle it … and if I want your opinion on it, I’ll ask you for it!) There are plenty of other questions you may have but haven’t had the time to dig into. I can be looking for a recipe, and two hours later I realize I’ve learned all there is to know about the Byzantine empire. Going down a rabbit hole is easy for me. Point is – be intellectually curious; now you have time to find some answers. Or maybe get more frustrated. Whatever.
5. Make a difference for someone. This is a wide-open opportunity, isn’t it? I can assure you that there are people you know and love who are in worse shape than you are. Want to move dead time to alive time? Find a need and meet it. There is so much you can do from your own home. Simply calling and checking on people is a great move. Call a local nursing home and find out if there’s a client who is especially lonely, and call and talk to them. It may be that the difference you make can happen right in your own home. Play some board games. Do crafts together. You were created by a Creator to be creative. Now’s your chance. You might just be someone’s answered prayer. Seriously.

That’s my five. One more, as a bonus:

Make a plan to celebrate when this is all over.

Because it will be.

You can have hope. Change your dead time to alive time. You and your part of the world will be grateful for it.