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prisoners of hope

"prisoners of hope"
paper collage on hardcover book board
september, 2011
gregory a. milinovich

i haven't been as prolific with my collaging recently.  i'll have to blame that on quin and the new zone defense.  still, i've had a few minutes to make a few things from time to time, and thought i'd share one of them today.  this is a new one i made called "prisoners of hope," which is a reference to zechariah 9:12, in which God tells the prisoners to return to Jerusalem, or to the city of safety, for they will be doubly blessed.  God calls them "prisoners of hope," rather than prisoners of the enemies. 

the phrase compels me:  prisoners of hope.  when we are suffering at the hands of some situation or some circumstance, we may think of ourselves as captives.  captives to stress.  to fear.  to anxiety.  captives to our financial hardships.  captives to our career situations.  prisoners of our circumstances.  surely we all suffer in some ways. 

but God may have a different way of framing our situation.  it just might be what led paul to write that the early Christians should rejoice even in their sufferings.  God doesn't call us prisoners of suffering, or prisoners of exile, or prisoners of our unfortunate circumstances.  no, God calls us prisoners of hope.  for it is hope that holds us in the midst of every trial and tribulation.  it is hope that sustains in the mdist of whatever prison we may find ourselves in, whether it be the very real bars of an institution, or the equally powerful chains of guilt or shame.  whatever it is that holds you in it's iron grip, God has a different way of looking at it.  hold onto your hope.  hold onto the idea that it doesn't have to be like this...that things can - and will! - change.  hold onto the reality that everything that is broken will, in time, be redeemed and made right.  even the situation you are in.  even the exile that you are experiencing.  even the anxiety that is costing you sleep.  yes, this too, will be made right.  believe it.  hope for it.  and be prisoners of that hope 
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Greg C. said…
Love that.
3:03 PM
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