(Zechariah 9:12)
“Ye prisoners of hope”. I read this
verse just recently in my devotions. I'd never thought of 'hope' as possibly being
a ‘prison’ before. It was a concept that interested me. Usually, if I would
ever think of hope, especially in comparison to a prison, I would naturally
assume it lied outside of the prison walls. Maybe like the light that shines
through the cell window, or the lingering distant escape from something. Like
our future escape from our present reality. Hope should feel like the light at
the end of the tunnel...right? Yes, but not always. Hope can be a prison of its
very own. Sometimes God asks us to hope for something, and that very hope can
actually feel like a heavy burden, a cross to bear, or in this case, a prison. Sometimes,
it hurts to hope. It cuts deep into our insecurity and vulnerability. The pain
of an absolute, declarative “no” would often times feel more gracious than His,
“maybe, wait and see”. Having an unanswered desire can feel more difficult to
bear sometimes, than a direct answer. Hope can be painful. Especially when it
involves someone else.
Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is
a tree of life.”
The truth is, our hearts are afraid of being
sick. Hope feels open and vulnerable and risky. It is easier not to hope at all,
than the fear of being made sick by it. Our hearts are sensitive and fragile. We
fear disappointment. We fear rejection. We fear heartaches. But the Lord
doesn’t advocate us to fear in this way. We are to fear Him, certainly, but He
tells us to “Fear not, little flock; for
it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) He
tells us in I John 4:18 that “There is no
fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He
that feareth is not made perfect in love.”
Sometimes He asks us to hope, even when it
hurts to. Sometimes He asks us to hope against hope. And sometimes He will even
reveal a specific future promise and then require us to hope in Him for its
fulfillment. Our hopes can take all different forms. They are unique and
personal to each of us. Some cannot even be shared with others.
Some “prisons of hope” are merely rotting
structures of selfish. Sometimes they are caused by our own foolish making. Not
all “hope” in our hearts is by any means “spiritual” or should be nurtured as
such. The Bible tells us that our hearts are deceitfully wicked. We need to
seek the Lord in honesty and complete surrender as to what hopes He’s allowed
or not. Sometimes in our prisons of hope, He never actually intended us to be
there in the first place and has already unlocked and opened the door for our
escape and we are too busy wallowing in our own self-pity to walk out.
Dear heart, do you find yourself trapped
inside a “prison of hope”? I would like to encourage you. Jesus knows the hope
you feel.
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace
to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16)
He was in “all points tempted
like as we are”. You are not alone. He cares about the state of your heart.
He understands what it is to feel the pain of a heartache. He cares when you
feel trapped by a prison of hope. He sees when your heart takes off hoping,
even without your mental consent to do so. Sometimes we can’t help hoping. And
that is okay. I John 3: 20 says, “For if
our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.”
We have a safe place to turn. Jesus is
greater than our hearts. But I would encourage you to examine your heart, to
examine your prison of hope. It is honestly a place the Lord has allowed you to
be in? Has He asked you to hope there? If not, we must surrender that hope. We
must ask Him to take all our hope, all our desire, and replace it with His best
and perfect will for us. His will is never something to fear. He is love. He
delights to give us the desires of our hearts, but only when He knows that that
desire will not hurt us. Love cannot allow that. Love must always provide
through the best possible. And if you are in a place, a prison that Jesus has
asked you to hope in, then take heart, my friend, and trust Him.
Zechariah 9:12 said, “Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I
declare that I will render double unto thee;”
In our prison of hope, we have a strong hold
that we are commanded to turn to. And that strong hold is Jesus.
“But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.” (Psalms 94:22)
“The
LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that
trust in him.” (Nahum 1:7)
“Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort:
thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.” (Psalms 71:3)
“For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my
youth.” (Psalms 71:5)
Jesus is there in the dear hopes of our
hearts, as well as in our deep heartaches. I remember when I discovered for the
very first time what it truly meant to feel literal physical pain from a
heartache. It no longer was a “term” I’d heard, but a reality in my life. And
Jesus was there. Holding me. Comforting me. He eased the pain. And He gave me
Psalms 69:32-34, “…and your heart shall
live that seek God. For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his
prisoners. Let the heaven and earth praise him….”
The heart that seeks Him shall live. We
can abide in a place of hope, because He is our hope. He is faithful. We can
trust Him with our hearts. We do not have to fear disappointment from Him.
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in
me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” (Psalms 42:5)
“And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.” (Psalms 39: 7)
Is your soul cast down? Hope thou in God. He
is our help. He is our refuge. He is our stay. We can trust Him with our hope.
“That
by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might
have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and
stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of
Melchisedec.” (Hebrews 6:18-20)
