"Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;today I declare that I will restore you double." Zechariah 9:12 I looked up the definition for the word stronghold and found that it meant a place of refuge or survival.
There are so many things in life I find that can take me captive. I can be a prisoner to regret. When I look back over my life and see how some of my bad choices have hurt the people I love I feel imprisoned by the pain of those choices. I look at David's life and see the grief he and those he loved suffered because of his sin but he wasn't a prisoner of regret: he was a prisoner of hope. He knew where to run for refuge. The hurt he felt was real but so was the God who loved him. He endured the pain by putting his confidence in the promise of a Redeemer.
Sometimes I feel like a prisoner of anxiety. It takes me captive in the night as I think about all the things over which I have no control. I see situations that threaten me and the people I love and suddenly I cry out in fear. I see a reflection of my own tears on the prophet Jeremiah's face. But like Jeremiah I return to my stronghold,and say,"Remembering my afflictions and my wanderings,the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;they are new every morning;great is your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion', says my soul,'therefore I will hope in him.'"
Lord Jesus, your love is the key that unlocks the prison of regret because You are the Redeemer. Because You are my Savior You have set me free from all the fears and failures that bind me. For today I will remain in my stronghold, a prisoner of hope knowing that the day will come when hope will be exchanged for sight and I will be free.
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