Trapped

Like caged animals that lost their freedom there are people also trapped. Trapped in physical pain from injuries, ailments, and diseases they never wanted and cannot escape. There are people trapped in environments they cannot control. They endure each day of misery trying to make the best of a bad situation. There are people trapped in abusive and loveless relationships. They are too scared and too confused to find a way of escape. There are kids trapped in their bodies and the endless ridiculing of classmates who cut and stab with their words, texts, and social media posts. There are people trapped behind a mountain of debt. Others are trapped in dead end jobs with no future for advancement and no hope for providing a better living for their family. There are people trapped in the prison of a dark and distorted mind of depression. Though they grope through pitch dark caverns of their mind they cannot find an exit.

Like caged animals from the wild something on the inside dies when they are trapped. They are broken. They may be put in a zoo  in what is supposed to be their natural habitat. You can see in their eyes something missing. A part of them has died after getting trapped. They pace back and forth nervously and angrily. They get tired of no privacy. They get irritated with the constant taunts. Yet things are beyond their control. They are trapped.

The same for people. It is bad enough to be trapped but when everyone knows you are trapped or knows your very private pain has gone public the soul withers. When others pretend to care but secretly slander you behind your back at first it angers you. Then over time your heart becomes numb. Your attention gets redirected on just trying survive another day.

And when the pretenders come acting like they really care about your plight you learn to fake it. You pretend you are better than you are. They don't really hear the truth about your being trapped. When the wise offer their many solutions like Job's friends you learn not to be honest. You are trapped. You listen politely but keep your true feelings and battles inside.

Some well meaning super saint says you are trapped because you don't have enough faith. Those words sting the most. They do not know the countless hours you have cried out to God for relief, for rescue from the pain, and for deliverance from your less than desirable circumstances. They are unaware of the sleepless nights asking, seeking, and knocking on the doors of heaven for a way out. They do not know how many Bible promises you have memorized and prayed. To question your faith makes you withdraw a little more. Sometimes you even feel trapped by God Himself. He could heal, restore, provide, deliver, and protect with just His spoken word.

When you live in the prison of chronic pain every single day you fight demons in your mind. Demons about giving up, thoughts about God abandoning you, and thoughts about ending it all. When there is never real relief from the pain and you just learn to cope with it. You learn to suffer silently because nobody really wants to hear about how bad you feel. You feel trapped.

O for all the trapped people I do not have  a formula or a quick fix. I turn to the only place I know for help. God's word.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV) 
¹⁶  So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
¹⁷  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
¹⁸  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Things may never get better down here on planet earth. That is hard to read but is also hard truth. If you are a follower of Jesus things ARE GOING TO GET BETTER IN HEAVEN. So don't lose heart. Set your mind on the joy to come rather than the pain, confusion, frustration, and trials you have to endure here. Just keep seeking, trusting, and persevering from one day to the next. Even as the body wastes away and the physical pain mounts look to Jesus and what He has purchased for you. 

While your afflictions that trap you look anything but light from where you are in comparison to all eternity they are light. And they are momentary, or put another way, they are temporary. When Jesus calls you home, all the pain will be gone. FOREVER. HALLELUJAH. And your Father is preparing you for something beyond all comparison. Keep your mind fixed on that hope. 

Look to the world unseen but more real than what you see all around you. That unseen world is unending, eternal, everlasting, and forever. All else is temporary. You will not be trapped forever. Praise Jesus one day you will be free. Totally free. Free at last free at last praise God Almighty free at last. Free from everything and everyone that ever trapped you. Look forward to that day as I do the same.