Colossians 4.18 18 I, Paul, write this greeting with my
own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. (ESV)
I think it worth noting that Paul is/was in jail. I think it
worth noting that perhaps his life has hit the place of that hot and dry August
of wondering just what in the world was happening to him as it appeared jail-time
was not a momentary derailment but more of a long-term deal. I don’t think Paul was
wallowing in self-pity but I do think he might’ve viewed his situation as a
nuisance.
Sometimes, as the great poet Robert Burns so aptly wrote:
“But little Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!”*
I don’t think Paul felt forgotten but I do think he might’ve
toyed with the idea he’d been benched. Always the optimist though he faithfully
understood God’s place in annoyance and nuisance.
But Paul said, “Remember
my chains.” Why? Did he want his chains removed? Did he desire to be free
to move about freely? Well, certainly there was that, but to say it to a group of people he’d never met was more: Remember God, the God who knows about my
chains…and yours. All of us are going to go through places in life where
our only garments are God’s grace – and our chains.
That’s why Paul went on to say: Grace be with you. They needed His grace too. We all do no matter
what we’re going through and no matter how awry go the plans of mice and men.
His grace is worth remembering in the best of times when we see it the least;
and the worst of times when we feel
we need it the most.
What do you need to remember today? A missionary in a
foreign land? Someone who is hurting? Whose chains
are on your mind? As He has remembered us, so God calls us to remember them. He’s
in control but it’s also nice to know that when you’re bound up by this or
that, that someone else cares and is praying for you.
Father, today I remember those in chains and ask that You
ease their pains. I pray for Sterns, Potters, Larsons and a whole host of
others – touch them and help them today – amen.
* To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the
Plough - Robert Burns 1785
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