Prison

When I was a senior in high school, we took a school trip to San Francisco. For a girl from upstate NY, this was a special experience. Exploring Alcatraz, I was struck by the starkness of the prison and the reality of confinement. Visiting reminded me of why I never wanted to lose my freedom. We left the island grateful to return to our lives.

While I’ve never been imprisoned behind walls, I have sometimes felt trapped in my mind—held by loneliness, despair, discouragement, fear, anxiety, and dissatisfaction. I realize these feelings shouldn’t dwell in a believer’s heart since Jesus, through his resurrection, has set us free from every stronghold. God gives us the strength to endure, while the chains will be completely broken in heaven. I remind myself that with God we can overcome anything. As Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11-13: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances… I can do all things through him who gives me strength.” This encourages me to seek contentment through God’s strength. God promises to never leave us and gives us the power to endure, especially in difficult seasons.

Sometimes we have no control over the things that happen to us, such as an accident, a bad diagnosis, losing a job, a marriage falling apart, broken relationships within family or friends, or being overlooked for a promotion that we deserve. In these times, I often wonder about the bigger picture. Perhaps, when I go into despair and discouragement over one of these hardships, or something else, it is because I am playing the short-term game, while God has a long-term goal in mind. Maybe God spared me from something by not answering my prayer for a promotion because he has something better for me. Maybe someone wasn’t really a good friend, so God removed them from my life. Maybe the relationship with family just needs a time out so old wounds can heal, restoration can take place, and the relationship can be stronger than before. Maybe God had been calling me out of a job situation for a while, and I didn’t listen, so he removed me from the work environment, or maybe just sometimes bad things happen, and that is when I have to really lean on God to sustain me, encourage me, and help me through all the injustices of the world. One of the hardest concepts for me to live with is that I may not know the “why” this side of eternity, and I may have to wait until I see him face to face to understand and see all the answers that I have been longing for. And perhaps, once I get to heaven, none of these issues will matter because I am finally home, where I have been meant to be since I was born.

The end of 2025 was difficult for me, not for any reason, but mostly because I was living under the bondage of discouragement. Once I got into the discouragement cycle, I couldn’t seem to get out of it. It was like Satan had a firm grip on me and slowly dragged me down. More than likely, if it had been a rapid descent, I would have sought God sooner, but because it was a slow fade, I did not even realize what was happening. I blamed it on the holidays and having so much to do to host family and friends and get ready for Christmas. I smiled and said all the right things, but inside I felt like I was drowning. I lost all joy in celebrating the birth of Jesus, and I just wanted to get through December. I believed the lies that I was not that important to God and didn’t really believe that God had a plan for me. Thankfully, God’s truth shone through all the darkness. The chains were broken, and I walked out of the prison I put myself in, in freedom. Through time with God, the truth became so relevant that I now walk in security that God loves me, sustains me, provides for me, and has a plan for me. I matter to God, and that is the only thing I need to believe.

This journey has shown me the importance of truly believing in God’s love. As I’ve studied His attributes, I’ve realized it’s hard to trust God if I don’t really know who He is. God doesn’t just have mercy—He is mercy. The same is true of His love; it’s not conditional or occasional, but constant because it’s who He is.

When I forget this truth, I start believing the enemy’s lies—that my problems aren’t important to God or that I must take control myself—and that’s when I become enslaved by fear. The only way to break free is to turn to God, and His truth found in Scripture. Through Jesus, we are born into God’s family, filled with His Spirit, and empowered to live in freedom and joy.

I love the Bethel Music song “No Longer Slaves.” Part of the song says “From my mother’s womb, you have chosen me, love has called my name, I’ve been born again to your family, your blood flows through my veins, I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God … We’ve been liberated from our bondage, we’re the sons and daughters, let us sing out freedom.” These are powerful truths; we are chosen, loved, part of God’s family, liberated, and can live in freedom.

It is possible to have joy even when circumstances are against me. I can look at Paul as an example. He was joyful even while sitting in prison. I am sure he was chained, malnourished, mocked, and cold. Yet he still praised God and wanted others to believe in his God. He wanted his captors to believe in Jesus as their savior. He let God be in control and submitted to God’s ways and will. I believe Paul did this because he deeply believed that God is merciful, loving, powerful, and mighty.

Physical prisons today differ greatly from those in Paul’s time. And each person’s prison experience is unique. Some prisoners find God and are changed; likewise, we can find God in our own struggles and be transformed. Our circumstances are not a life sentence. Because Jesus died and rose again, believers can experience true freedom even in the midst of difficulty.

We are free from the enemy’s lies and empowered by our Heavenly Father. When we accept Jesus as Savior, sin loses its power to enslave our thoughts and actions. As Scripture reminds us, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15, NLT).

The enemy seeks to bind us not through our circumstances, but through lies—convincing us that we don’t matter to God or that He has forsaken us. Yet even when we can’t change our circumstances, we have the power to choose how we see them. We can call out to God in faith, trusting that He hears us, loves us, and will help us. In Him, we are no longer slaves to fear or sin, but beloved children walking in freedom.

I encourage you to read your Bible, pray, and seek out who God says he is. It has been liberating for me to study the attributes of God. Don’t listen to the lies of bondage but live in the freedom of who God is and who he says we are: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are”. (1 John 3:1 NIV)