Crazy, or Crazy Joy? Love Letter from Prison

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Crazy, or Crazy Joy?

Five days ago, the news arrived from a friend. Thyroid cancer. With surgery and medication, they think she will live a normal life except for those quarterly check-ups.

Three days ago, another friend texted: “Dad was rushed to the hospital. Details later. Just pray.”

Then there’s that loved one, young, only in his twenties. Addicted to heroin, needing help, wanting help, but there are no long-term in-patient recovery programs available to him.

And an adult friend’s sibling? Under house arrest.

Each story is true, and I could go on with the list. Sometimes life just gets too big, too overwhelming. It’s too much to make sense of this prison. These chains, sometimes of our own making, other times bound by unchosen circumstances, lock us inside a jail cell of despair, and we have no idea if we’ll ever get out.

Flailing about in our misery, we long for a day when we will feel joy again. Like desiring ice-cold water in the middle of the desert, we can desperately hope.

The Apostle Paul gets it. Like the other apostles and even Jesus Himself, Paul knows suffering. He knows it intimately, too intimately, perhaps.

Yet, sitting in a Roman jail cell for probably the fourth or fifth time, chained to a Roman guard, Paul has the absolute audacity to make statements such as:

* “I always pray with joy” (Philippians 1:4, NIV).

* “I will continue to rejoice” (Philippians 1:18, NIV).

* “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, NIV).

Is he crazy? Although his words make it seem so, the book of Philippians in the Bible makes it clear he is not.

In Love Letter from Prison: A Study on the Book of Philippians, we learn about Paul’s circumstances surrounding his imprisonment as well as his reason for joy…joy in knowing and living for Christ, joy in humbly living in unity with other Christians, and joy in resting in God’s promises. We journey with Paul, glance into his situation as well as our own difficulties, and we find great hope.

This study also reflects the hearts of the women who wrote it. God laid on the hearts of Crystal Colp, Jacki Kachner, Erin Lehmann, and Alice Park to write insert their own stories along the way to offer a 21st Century perspective. Erin describes her times of taking a spiritual stand within the school system, “moments when I am literally shaking and my heart is pounding when I share my opinions that are solid biblically but in radical opposition to the current way of doing things,” she writes.

Co-author Jacki Kachner describes her time of sitting alone in the doctor’s office several hours from home, knowing she was about to receive a cancer diagnosis. She shares in the study:

Just prior to the doctor stepping back into the room I grabbed a Kleenex and prayed aloud. “Dear God, I am about to get bad news. I am here alone and afraid, with many miles to drive before the day is done. Keep me calm in the midst of the storm, help me listen, comprehend, and not be overwhelmed with fear. I was foolish to come alone but please help me in spite of my bad decision. Amen.” I blew my nose, the doctor came in, and indeed gave the grave diagnosis. But you know what? I kept breathing; I asked good questions and comprehended everything the doctor said. I remained calm and peaceful, a peace that transcended all understanding. That was the most significant God moment in my life. How could I possibly deny God’s ability to handle this situation when His peace was so evident?

Between their narratives and the Apostle Paul’s story, we might begin to think we’re not alone. Others have struggled deeply as well, and they experience the crazy joy Paul writes about in Philippians. This new perspective gives us reason to hope.

Love Letter from Prison also invites us to dig deep into the scriptures of Philippians and other biblical passages that connect to the themes of joy, humility, friendship, and unity. We’re challenged to memorize one new Scripture each week. We’re invited to write and then share with others our findings. Little by little, like laying one brick on top of another to build a fortress of faith-based knowledge, we begin to believe when we center our lives on Christ, we, too, might live in true joy, even in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Paul knew, as do the authors of the study, that deep, abiding joy comes only through a submissive faith in the saving work of Jesus, in walking with other believers, and in serving others.

Would I dare to believe it, too? Would you?...or are we crazy?

Together, let’s experience the crazy joy we have in Christ when we study Love Letter from Prison: A Study on the Book of Philippians.

Tammy Tilley

Tammy Tilley has compiled and edited numerous books, has written for dozens of print and digital publications, and even co-founded a lifestyle magazine for the town where she once lived. Currently she lives in Anderson, Indiana where she is an adjunct writing instructor at Anderson University and an editor and writer for Warner Press.

August 7, 2018 | View: 1853 | Categories: Products, Christian Life