Prison | Did Jesus have a Facebook Page?

I had to get out of the house yesterday.

After years of “cabin fever” living in the mountains I had forgotten what it was like to be stuck inside. Having the option to go outside is one thing; knowing you could slide your way to the mailbox is another.

The first mistake I made was going down the wrong road. Or roads.

Avoiding tree trimmers or debris workers was trial and error. Scattered limbs, trunks split in half and blocked streets from inches of ice lined the landscape of this southern city.

Dealing with summer super storms or heat waves of 105 degrees for weeks on end appear to be a piece of cake compared to this past week of a major arctic blast.

The second mistake I made was going anywhere at all.

The traffic was atrocious. Cars and trucks came out of the woods to claim their piece of the aftermath pie. Vehicles backed up for miles in some places due to downed power lines and trees created some very unhappy travelers.

The third mistake I made was…….yes….going to Walmart. Why, oh why did I go to Walmart?

The parking lot was full. Empty grocery carts found their own spaces. Shoppers who didn’t look like shoppers seemed to show up on the busiest day of the year. And it wasn’t Black Friday.

Inside the store were empty shelves and aisles full of boxes of items waiting to be unloaded. Certain departments looked like a wind storm had blown through leaving a path of SC Gamecock destruction.

Grabbing what I came for quickly I headed for the check out. I stood in line almost 20 minutes.

The clerk looked at me and said, “You would think people got let out of jail. They act like they been locked up in a cage or somethin’ and as soon as they were set free they headed to Walmart.”

There are many types of cages or jails we set up for ourselves. A few days of ice covered roads forced residents to stay home against their will. The fear of being stuck or their independence taken away for even a short time produces anxiety, stress and impatience. Go live in the mountains of WNC for a few years and you will find out quickly staying off ice or snow covered roads just might save your life.

The prisons we create or the ones we are thrown into without a fair trial leave scars that heavily affect our thinking and position in this life. Instead of believing we have an escape route given to us, we rummage around in our cells of panic, dread, apprehension and sometimes physical damage.

Jesus is the guard with the key to freedom from any type of incarceration, confinement or slammer. That key is his heart. Getting to know the person of the resurrected Christ changes our thought processes. That means spending time in his word, praying over his words and having conversation with him may not change the circumstances, but enlightens our hearts to his responses of our circumstances.

This is not to say he won’t change our circumstances because he is in the business of miracles, signs and wonders but he also paves roads directing us down his path.

And for the sake of humor let’s just say Jesus offers up a Get out of Jail pass for free!
(He might let you pass go and collect $200.00 too)

The airport parking lot was almost full so finding an empty space was virtually impossible. Running late into the terminal waving your boarding pass you barely miss crashing into some kids. By-passing the need for relief a fast sprint in and out of visitors finally you see the boarding area. Racing to the attendant to hand her your ticket, she points at the window to show you your plane.

“I am so sorry sir, but there is your plane heading down the runway.”

Out of breath, the plane leaves without you.

Don’t you just hate that?

That feeling of missing something. A free trip. Lunch with a friend. The job you wanted but didn’t get.

Is it possible to ever come to a place where you never feel you have missed anything?

The answer is yes. Once you have been stripped of everything material, physical, mental and emotional there is only one thing left. The spirit that lives within us.

God is a spirit. He relates to us through the Holy Spirit he has placed within us.

After we are left with nothing, we begin to get “tunnel vision” where we only hear him, feel him and recognize his voice.

Joseph experienced this. Moses did too. David understood while he ran for his life from Saul.

There are issues within our hearts that must take a hike especially since most of our seeking God is self-centered to begin with. Often this is accomplished through the idiotic choices we make, or as Joseph did by taunting his older brothers with his dreams. Moses was kicked out of Egypt for killing a man and David outshined the King.

Imprisonment for 13 years, wilderness living for 40 and running from cave to cave to survive will or should knock the self-regard out of anyone.

Once we have lost the quest for earthly desires, missed appointments or the “all about me fun” questioning what is really important takes precedence. These false choices or actions we had depended on to “make our day” all of a sudden become our adversaries. It is then we first begin to seek God for his presence; to simply sit with him enjoying his company.

We will only find what we are looking for in Jesus. There is no other satisfaction; no other comparable.

“I am my Beloved’s and His desire is toward me.” Song of Solomon 7:10

He yearns for us to go deeper with him so that he may impart to us his secrets, knowledge, wisdom and ways.

As time passes we begin to place him first realizing what a privilege it is to have this personal intimacy with the Creator of the Universe. The joy of being sold out for Jesus trumps all pain, persecution, rejection, abandonment, fun, entertainment, and that lost flight to an earthly paradise.

All of a sudden you comprehend Jesus is paradise.

No need for a plane ticket after all.