• Comfort In Captivity

  Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 23, 2008 (message contributor)

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  Tags:  God In The Hardships

COMFORT IN CAPTIVITY

We all want our lives to have some semblance of control. We want to feel safe and secure. We want to have victory in our lives over our troubles. Jesus, the triumphant King, has come to enter your life to do just that. You must give up your power and control over your life. The Pharisees desired power and control and the more they struggled, the more they lost themselves. This reminds me of a story I read about the love of a grandfather for his grandson.

"Grandpa walked into the family room and found his little grandson, Jeffy, standing up in his playpen, crying. He looked so pitiful, standing there in his little baseball T-shirt and diaper. His face was red and tear-stained from crying. When Jeffy saw his grandpa, his face lit up in a way that smote the old man’s heart. He immediately reached up his chubby little hands in supplication. "Out Papa, out!"

What grandpa could resist such a plea? Not this one! He walked over to the playpen and reached down to lift his little buddy out of captivity and distress. Just then, however, Law and Order stepped into the room. Jeffy’s mother walked out of the kitchen with a dishtowel in her hand and spoke sternly. "No, Jeffy! You are being punished. You have to stay in bed! Leave him right there, Dad."

Oh, fine. Now what’s a grandpa to do? His grandson’s tears and reaching little hands tugged mightily at his heart- but he didn’t want to interfere with a mother’s discipline either. He couldn’t stand staying in the same room with the boy, reading his newspaper and pretending to be aloof. Nor could he turn around and walk out the door without feeling like a betrayer to his little pal. What could he do?

Love found a way. Since Grandpa couldn’t take Jeffy out of the playpen, he climbed in with him. "If you’re in the playpen, Buddy, I’m in the playpen. What’s your sentence? How long are you in for?" And finding a big, jolly grandpa suddenly filling his little prison cell, the little boy found comfort even in his captivity."

(SOURCE: from a sermon by Brien Sims, "The Triumphant King" 7/3/08, SermonCentral.com)