April is here and excitement is building in our house. Our oldest is a junior in high school and has experienced the hardest academic year of her life. Needless to say, summer does not arrive soon enough for our 16-year-old.

In my corner of the world, however, the unwinding of her junior year is not as exciting. It means we start filling out endless scholarship forms, finalize college visits and look at every aspect of sending our first-born to college. It’s a bittersweet, hectic time, indeed.

One of the things on my to-do list is to create a volleyball highlights video for college coaches, since our daughter hopes to play the sport at the next level. I have been taping her games for the past couple of years and now it’s time to put her best plays into a three- to four-minute video. After doing some research, I decided to purchase video editing software and create the video myself. After a couple of days playing with it, I am finally getting the hang of it.

I was looking for a tool where I could draw a circle around my daughter on the court before each video clip, so that coaches can easily spot her on the court, when I came across the perfect feature for that purpose. The software allows me to draw a circle around my daughter on the screen, and once the circle is defined, a dark grey filter appears, blurring everything outside the circle. The other players become irrelevant on the screen and she stands out for a couple of seconds, allowing the coaches to clearly identify her on the team.

I thought about that feature of the software during my prayer time this morning, after reading a passage in Scriptures.

The apostle Paul was a prisoner in Rome when he wrote his “Joy Letter,” the epistle to the Philippian church. The text always amazes me as I think about the setting from where the apostle wrote these letters. It’s hard to imagine someone so filled with joy, contentment and spiritual strength while living in such precarious conditions.

The underground of Roman prisons, also known as “houses of darkness,” was dug out of solid rocks. The prisoner, his guards and provisions were lowered through an opening the size of a manhole, which was the only access point. These holes were often under a market, therefore rain and debris from the streets and from animals easily fell in. The prisoner was chained to a wall, limiting his movements, day and night. The Roman historian Sallust described one of these dungeons: “(it) sinks about 12 feet underground. Walls secure it on every side, and over it is a vaulted roof connected with stone arches; but its appearance is disgusting and horrible, by reason of filth, darkness and stench.”

From the corner of such a horrific place, papyrus and quill in hand, I imagine old Paul, death sentence hanging over his head, writing down words of encouragement and victory, which have strengthened believers throughout the centuries: Rejoice! God is near! Be anxious for nothing. Instead, give thanks, pray and receive God’s peace!  (Philippians 4:4-7)

Much like the software that I’ve used to produce my daughter’s volleyball highlights video, Paul seems to have found that special feature in his heart, which blurred out everything around him, thus highlighting what truly mattered. In the agony of his circumstances, instead of despairing, he chose to pray, focus on God, His love, sovereignty and grace.

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I am certain that there were moments when this fierce man of God looked at his surroundings, the sword that awaited him, and fear threatened to grab his heart. And yet, he did not allow the darkness to overcome him. His strategy? Focus, focus and more focus.

Life can be hard. Sometimes, unbearably hard. It was for Paul. It may be for you today. May God help us to focus on the fact that we are not alone in our “dungeons,” that His presence becomes the highlight on our screen. May we tell our hearts to pray, instead of panic, and give thanks for the blessings we have, instead of complaining.

This article was originally published in Patricia’s column for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday – March 30, 2019.