Prisoners of Hope: Committed to Seeing the Best

Zechariah 9:11 “As for you also, Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. 12  Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare That I will restore double to you."

Psalms 68:4, Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name Yah, And rejoice before Him. 5  A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. 6 God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land

We are living in a world full of sin and darkness. If you read all of Zechariah 9, you will statement after statement of God judging Israel’s enemies and His promise to protect His people.There is a certain amount of pain that comes with simply living in this world. People become distracted by the pain, noise and clutter of this world. People get caught up in carnal pursuits, which becomes their prison. There are all kinds of prisons. People who commit crimes, and some falsely accused, end up in literal prison. Some are prisoners to their own bad practices, such as lying. Some are prisoners to unforgiveness or bitterness.

Everyone is a prisoner, So you may as well be a Prisoner of Hope.

Paul and Silas understood that they were already prisoners of hope, even before they were put in jail. That’s why that began to sing praises. They were doing what they always did! Prisoners of hope never stop seeing the best. Prisoners of hope cannot be bound by prisons of this world or captive circumstances created by people.

Acts 16:24-26 (New King James Version)
24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

Prisoners of hope are believers in Jesus who recognize the limitation in their circumstances, but refuse to be limited in their expectations and actions. We have faith in a God who can do anything.

Too many people look at their circumstances and make the decision that they can do no more, or become no more than what they see. Like Jeremiah, those persons have to learn to “See well.”