The Prison of Perplexity

SuperMax is a term which describes a special type of prison. It is literally a prison within a prison that is used to house the most serious of offenders, the worst of the worst who pose a threat to society both nationally and internationally. Alcatraz Island which was opened in 1934 is considered to be the prototype for this type of prison. "The inner cell or dungeon" that Paul and Silas was thrown into would be a good Biblical description of how this place looks.

There are other prisons. They are not made of bars, boulders or bricks. They are not constructed with poured concrete and metal furniture. There is no barbed wired or miles of security-lined electric fences, but it still is a prison. It still confines! It restricts! It entraps and it is my contention that it has more people in its custody then all of the prisons in the world combined. It is the Prison of Perplexity.

Perplexity is the mental state characterized by a lack of clear or orderly thought or reason that can lead to bad, misguided or unintended behavior; to be unable to think with clarity because of confusion and complications. All of us have been inmates of this prison system. Either life is filling out your intake form now for entry; either you have been recently paroled from or you are currently a resident of this prison.

What you do with your prison is up to you:
Peter Slept through his Prison--Acts 12:5-12
Paul and Silas Sang through their Prison--Acts 16
John the Baptist Struggled through his prison--Matthew 11:1-6

What are you doing with you prison? How are you handling your restricted area? Your conflicted mind? The unending questions of life? The bills that won't stop and the pain that will not end? How do you answer the what now, whats next questions? What is your plan for the where questions? Where is my next provision coming, where will I get the money to meet these bills? How am I going to hold on, How will we survive? Why is God doing this? Why am I in this prison in the first place? Why am I here in this city, in this town, in this church, with this Pastor, with this spouse, with this job

ARE YOU THE ONE OR SHOULD I LOOK FOR ANOTHER

John the Baptist was in this prison. Even though Jesus calls him the greatest prophet to live; even though it seemed as if the Spirit of Elijah was back through John the Baptist, although many came to see him preach, this did not exempt him from spending time in this prison. If John had to go through this prison, what makes you think that your life will be exempt. Keep living and you will spend time in the cell of ARE YOU THE ONE OR SHOULD WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER? There never seems to be overcrowding, there never seems to be a shortage of bed space.

What I will endeavor to do over the course of the next posts is encourage you to know, the prison that you find yourself in now is not permanent but only temporary. There is a plan, purpose and provision that God will give you in the Prison of Perplexity.

The Lord allowed me to preach this sermon on Sunday at our church and we had a great time. I want to thank my friend Pastor Arthur Lane from the St, Matthews Baptist Church of Corpus Christi, TX our Family and Friends day Speaker this upcoming June 2011 for milking the cow and I thank God for giving me the resources to make my own butter and cheese from it. Always good to have pastor Friends. Will share more later........

Owens