Jeremiah 21:9
“He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.”
Jeremiah’s prophecy to Zedekiah was a strange sermon. He told them to either surrender to the Chaldeans who would take them captive or die. This didn’t seem like much of a choice. Death, or place yourself under the oppression of captivity and live; yet, if they lived they still had life. They still had opportunities to influence others. They still had family they could enjoy. No, they would never go back to their homeland, but they would live and be able to serve the LORD.
At some point in your life, you will have to face the choice that Judah had to face. I’m not talking about your country being taken captive, but I’m talking about your life being taken captive. I’m talking about your life being seized by heartache, sorrow, disease, loneliness, etc. This captivity has nothing to do with a life of sin, it all has to do with God’s will for your life. When the captors come, you have a choice to either surrender to them or let whatever has captivated your life cause you to die. I’m not talking about a physical death, but I’m talking about a death to life where you let your captivity kill your dreams and work for Christ.
For many years I watched Mrs. Marlene Evans, a very good Christian lady, fight cancer. The doctors told her many times that she was going to die from cancer. They told her that she didn’t have much time to live. Each time they told her this, instead of letting the captor of cancer take her life, she decided to take her captivity and use it to help others. I remember her saying, “I have chosen to live until I die.” Though cancer eventually took her life, it didn’t take away her joy. For many years she told the captor of cancer that she was not going to allow it to stop her from joyfully serving the LORD.
You have a choice to either let your captor cause you to die, or you can surrender to the fact that you are a captive of your trial, and continue to live. Maybe your captor is a disease. You can either let your disease take your life, or you can decide to live until you die. Maybe your captor is divorce, death of a loved one, a family member who has broken your heart, financial pressure or an attack against your character. You can either lie down and die, or surrender to the fact that you can’t change your captivity and live until you die.
Let me remind you that you still have life. Let me remind you that the LORD has a purpose for allowing you to be captivated by your captor. May I remind you that you still have family to love, and a church to attend, and friends around you, and most of all you are still saved. If you will surrender to the fact that you can’t change your captivity, then you can use it to help others.
Whatever captor you face today, I challenge you not to let it take your joy or life. Surrender to the fact that you are a captive, and go live life. Your quality of life may not be what you would like, but you still have a reason to go on and help others. I encourage you to choose to live. Take your joy from within and go help others who are captive. You will find that when God allows you to be a captive, that there are others around you who are also captives whom you can help. If you won’t surrender to your captivity, then you can’t help them. However, if you surrender to it then you can help all those around you who are also a captive of your captivity.