What's Your Prison

My nephew was accepted into the Air Force Academy. Immediately, he was stripped of most of his freedom. He had to keep everything in his room in a specific order. It did not matter if it was convenient for him or not. He could only walk on certain squares of concrete in the courtyard. He literally had to run everywhere!  He had to memorize whole pages of a certain manual they used and if anyone in a higher class asked him to recite a page, he had to do it. He had to chew his food a specific amount of times before he swallowed it! He was forced to do everything and anything someone above him would ask him to do. If he got it wrong, 50 push ups was the penalty.

His mother said that by them taking away their freedom, it would break them down so they could be taught what they needed to learn to survive. This way, they could truly appreciate their freedom, as well.

The amazing thing is, I remember something my nephew said when we went to visit him in Colorado Springs. We were all together driving up Pikes Peak and the Old Boy (my husband) was trying to scare the living day lights out of us by getting as close to the edge as possible. He does not like to use his brakes because he does not want them to burn up! Our brakes were nice and cool at the brake check point, let me tell ya!...but I digress! As I cowered in the the back seat, my nephew told me he was going to remember how the people treated him as a new person at the Academy.
 "Oh really? You're gonna get 'em back, huh?,"  I said, with a smile.
He said, " No! I will not treat people the way they have treated me!"
I was pleasantly surprised and admired the integrity I saw in him.

As I read my Bible and look at some of the people I have admired through out my life, I noticed that almost all of them have been put in a situation where they have lost their freedom - prison, to be exact. Think about it. Most all of the patriarchs, prophets, disciples had been in exile or prison of some sort. They had been restrained, beaten and broken down so they could be retrained to trust and follow the Father! They had to learn to appreciate the freedom and safety there is in following Him!

I think of people like Corrie Ten Boom, Richard Wurmbrand, Dimitru Duduman and the Heavenly Man (Brother Yun). Look them up, please. They all suffered and were in prison. They have all been greatly used by our Father and have seen Him move in amazing ways.

I asked one of my close friends once what her "prison" was. She immediately said, "The Crypt!" You see, she had lost everything, including her home and was forced to live in the dark, dirty, cold, basement of an office building. This is what she referred to as "the Crypt", with obvious disgust in her voice. This woman is being greatly used by Abba Father now,  but she had to be broken down in order to be built back up! She has had to learn how to trust Him for everything.

What's your prison? Are you in prison now? Perhaps He is breaking you down so He can build you back up - HIS way. You are no different than anyone else. If Yeshua endured it, then we must too. There is no true freedom outside of Him.

Solitary Confinement (Richard Wurmbrand) 9 minutes:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7_1j5FXC2Aw