Imagine
you were arrested for a crime you never committed. As a matter of fact, the very hideous crime
you are convicted of turns your stomach and you can’t even imagine anyone, let
alone yourself, doing this! You are
ripped from your family and suddenly find yourself in an environment where
death threats are occurring hourly until you are snatched away and put in an
isolated cell, only allowed out one hour per day. This is a repulsive picture to imagine.
However, I know Christian men in the Alaskan penal system that lives this life
every day. Whatever the circumstances
that put them in a correctional center these Christian men have truly repented
and are trusting God for protection and victory.
The Apostle Paul was in a prison
cell, shackled in chains for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Violence and fear permeated the prison back
then as it does today in our modern jails.
When Paul penned that for him to live is Christ and to die is gain (Phil
1:21), he was struggling living in the flesh and desiring to “depart and be
with Christ, for that is far better” (Phil 1:23). That is not hard to imagine. Many of us, if not most, have struggled with
these feelings at one time or another. I
have encouraged several Christian brothers behind bars to write their story of
hope amidst a very evil, dark situation, following Paul’s example while in
jail.
When
impossible circumstances happen in our life and we are panic-stricken it’s like
we are shoved in a “prison cell” by unforeseen forces. It’s hard to push back
against the fear and violence swarming around.
HOWEVER, there is hope even in the toughest trials. Paul’s letter to the Philippians while he was
in prison gives us a certain hope. God
is working in and through us to complete a spiritual work of wholeness that He
started. Jesus won’t leave us where we
are, in a prison cell to rot and be forgotten.
NO! He will finish what He started in us. Like Paul, we too can shout, “I can do ALL
things through him who strengths me” (Phil. 4:13). We can make it through the next hour, and
perhaps through the day. He promises
He’ll bring us out to an open, pleasant place. “He brought me out into a
spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me” (Psalm 18:19).
God
will never leave you; never let you go. God is moving on behalf of my Christian
friends behind real iron bars and locked doors.
One inmate I visit is only allowed visitation with his family one hour
per night. He was assigned a night job
that took him away from his visitation (a vital link to emotional health). We immediately went to prayer and within 48
hours he was reassigned to the day shift and visitation continued with his
family! Only God could do that. Let me give you one more supernatural
example. An unsentenced inmate was
awaiting trial. He was told he would
have 100-240 years (basically life). He
committed a crime but not so severe to have that horrendous punishment. I prayed for victory in his court case
. He walked out of
the court room having to serve six years behind bars. He will be released the day before his son
graduates High School. That is
victory! Again, only God could have arranged
that. God be praised! My friend, He will
move in your impossible circumstance, too.
The worse things look, the better God can change your situation and be
glorified. Even the seekers will see
that God gave you the victory! There is no other explanation other than
supernatural forces at work in the lives of His Beloved.
Dear God, You see my impossible circumstances so
I am declaring that you turn these circumstances around for my good and your
glory. Bring the good work in my life to
completion. Amen
