We are in the series: Character Forged. In the first message, we learned that suffering, tribulations, and pain are part of the Christian life. God does not send pain, but He uses these circumstances to transform our character!
In the second message, we talked about God’s process! Many want the promises without going through the process! Many want to sit on the throne (like Joseph), but they don’t want to go through the painful process that takes to get there.
I said that the ‘pressure of life’ softens and breaks us. ‘Very tough meat will never tenderise without a pressure cooker!’ God wants us to bear fruit, so He, our loving vinedresser, prunes us!
Today, we will delve into one of the paradoxes of the Christian faith: being a “Prisoner of Hope.”
Zechariah 9:12 (NIV): “Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even today I declare that I will restore twice as much to you.“
The Contrast: When we think of a “prisoner,” we usually imagine someone in handcuffs, without freedom, without a future. But Zechariah invites us to a different kind of prison, one that truly sets us free. We cannot be prisoners of our circumstances, our pains, our disappointments, but rather prisoners of something much greater and more powerful: hope in God.
Just like the people of Israel in Zechariah’s time, many of us face exiles, challenges, illnesses, longings, and losses. Crises are universal, but our response to them defines our character.
1- The Context of Zechariah 9:12 – A Promise for a People in Crisis
God’s People in Restoration: Zechariah prophesied to a people returning from exile. They were rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple but faced opposition, poverty, and despair. God’s promises seemed distant, and the reality was harsh.
The “Fortress”: God calls them to return to His “fortress.” What is this fortress? It is His very nature, His attributes, His promises, His presence. It is the safe place where hope does not die, even when everything around us collapses.
The Promise of Double Restoration: Zechariah 9:12 is not just a calling, but a powerful promise. God would not only take them out of the prison of despair but would restore them with a blessing even greater than their loss. This shows us God’s heart: He doesn’t just fix things; He surpasses expectations.
2- Crises as Furnaces: Where Character is Refined
The Furnace Analogy: Character, just like gold, is forged and purified in fire. Our pains are not in vain; they are instruments in the hands of the divine Potter. Difficult circumstances are God’s furnaces.
Pains, Disappointments, and Problems as Raw Material:
- Pains: Loss, illness, loneliness – they strip us of our self-sufficiency and make us seek something greater. The moments when people most seek God are when they are experiencing pain.
- Disappointments: They break our idols and false expectations, teaching us to place our trust only in God.
- Problems: They force us to stretch our faith, to seek wisdom beyond our own, to cry out for divine intervention. An easy life doesn’t grow your faith!
Biblical Examples of Character Forged in Crisis:
- Joseph: A prisoner (literally) of slander and jealousy, but forged by God to govern.
- David: Persecuted by Saul, he lived as a fugitive, but his weaknesses and flights led him to cling to God and become the ‘man after God’s own heart‘.
- Paul: ‘Prisoner of Christ Jesus‘ (Ephesians 3:1), marked by floggings, shipwrecks, persecutions, but whose character became an unwavering testimony to grace.
- Finding God and Experiencing Miracles in Crisis
No one wants to go through crises, pains, or difficulties, but it is life’s tribulations that draw us closer to God! It is in the darkness that the light of His presence shines brightest.
Miracles in the Impossible: Have you ever noticed that the greatest biblical miracles happened in situations of complete human impossibility?
- The Red Sea parting when the people of Israel were cornered.
- Jesus healing the paralytic when medicine had no more answers.
- The resurrection of Lazarus, when there was already the smell of death.
It is in crises that our faith is tested, and as we persevere, we experience God’s mighty hand working the impossible.
- The Attitude of the “Prisoner of Hope”: Active and Unwavering Faith
Hope is not blind optimism: Biblical hope is not a naive optimism that denies the reality of pain. On the contrary, it faces pain head-on, but with the unwavering conviction that God is above and beyond it.
Proactive Choice: Being a prisoner of hope is an active choice:
The Revealing Purpose of Trials
One of the most transformative perspectives we can adopt is to understand that life’s storms are not accidents, but rather events permitted by God with a specific purpose. The strategic importance of grasping this is that it transforms pain into a path to revelation. God does not surprise us with crisis; He guides us through it to teach us something fundamental.
God in the storm: Often, we think God is absent in crises. But it is precisely when the boat is rocking that Jesus miraculously appears walking on water.
The biblical example of the disciples facing the storm at sea perfectly illustrates this principle. The revelation that the abundance of bread and fish on the shore could not give them, they received in the midst of their own tempest. The tranquillity of witnessing healings and miracles was not enough; it was the absolute dependence to survive the fury of the waves that opened their eyes.
Only after seeing Jesus calm the winds, they, in unison, declared: ‘You are the Christ‘. Revelation is not just about seeing God’s power, but about experiencing our personal dependence on that power for survival.
The Decisive Choice: Prisoner of Anxiety or of Hope? Amidst adversity, the most strategic choice we can make is a conscious one. It’s not about denying the reality of pain, but about deciding with who or what we will forge our allegiance. The Scriptures, in Zechariah 9, offer us a divine alternative to the prison of negativity, calling us ‘prisoners of Hope‘. This powerful image invites us to choose a captivity that, instead of confining us, sets us free.
Prisoner of Anxiety: This is a cell built with the bars of fear, doubt, discouragement, and oppression. It is reinforced daily by world news, by the external and internal battles we fight, and by the family and ministerial problems that weigh on our shoulders. Being captive here means allowing circumstances to dictate our peace and our perspective.
Prisoner of Hope: Being a prisoner of hope is a deliberate decision to shackle oneself to God’s promise. It is choosing to cling to faith, which is, by definition, ‘the evidence of things hoped for‘. (Hebrews 11:1) It means that, even surrounded by walls of difficulty, our loyalty remains with God’s truth, and not with the apparent reality of our situation.
- The Harvest of Transformation: Forged Character, Revealed Purpose
We Don’t Emerge the Same: When we pass through the furnace of crisis as prisoners of hope, we cannot not emerge unchanged. We come out stronger, more resilient, more like Christ.
Fruits of Character: Patience, perseverance, compassion, unwavering faith – these are virtues forged in the fire of affliction.
Our Expanded Purpose: Our scars become maps.
Our transformed pains empower us to minister to others who are walking similar paths. Our experience becomes a powerful testimony. God uses us to bless Monaghan and plant new churches in Ireland, and this begins with forged character.
6- Shifting Focus: The Power of Looking Up
The point where we direct our focus during a crisis determines our emotional and spiritual outcome. If we look at the waves threatening us, we will be consumed by fear. If we look at the One who walks on water, we will find peace and strength.
The analogy of Noah’s ark offers a profound lesson on divine perspective. God designed the ark with only one window, and positioned it at the top. The meaning is clear: during the overwhelming storm, God’s intention is for our focus to be on Him, not on the turbulent waters below. We are called to practise what the psalmist declared: ‘I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?‘ Psalms 121:1
This shift in focus extends beyond the immediate crisis, inviting us to adopt an eternal perspective.
The author Paul Bilheimer, in his book Destined for the Throne, argues that ‘nothing in life… can make sense until you zoom out and include eternity‘.
Adopting an eternal perspective is the supreme act of ‘looking up’. It is God’s invitation for us to view our temporary storm from the vantage point of our eternal destiny, re-signifying our struggles as necessary chapters in a much larger story.
Ultimately, trials force us to answer the most fundamental question God asks us: ‘Who do you say I am?‘ It is not enough to hear what others say about Him. The storm demands a personal and profound answer, forged in the fire of experience. It is there that we discover, for ourselves, that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
- Conclusion and Challenge: Embrace Your “Prison” of Hope
- Choose faith over fear: Decide to trust God, even when logic and feelings scream otherwise.
- Choose praise over lamentation: Worship God amidst tears, acknowledging His sovereignty.
- Choose obedience over flight: Remain firm in God’s principles, even when the path is narrow and painful.
Where are you today? Look at your life. Are you in some ‘prison’? A prison of unemployment, illness, loneliness, failure, need, disappointment?
The invitation of Zechariah 9:12 echoes today: ‘Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope‘. Do not run from your crisis; face it with the certainty that God is in it, and that He will use it for your good and His glory.
Embrace being a prisoner of hope! Hand over your pains, your disappointments, your problems to God. Trust that He is working, even when you don’t see it. Allow Him to forge in you an unwavering character, one that testifies to His transformative power.
The final promise: He promises to restore double. Not just an exit from the crisis, but a more abundant life, a deeper character, a more robust faith.
Be a prisoner of Hope!