Set Free in Prison

When you think of a convicted drug dealer serving time in prison, what words, phrases, thoughts come to mind?

Go ahead, you’re allowed to think it. I asked.  

Scumbag, junkie, loser, murderer, deserved it, rot in jail, lost cause.

How about these instead?  Beloved, redeemable, contrite, friend, daughter, born again Christian, Child of the One True King.

Readers, I have a daughter of the heart. I didn’t give birth to her, but God placed her in my heart when she was a teenager and there she will remain. She was raised by her grandparents because her birth mother struggled with addiction. My heart- daughter struggled greatly with feelings of abandonment as her birth mother had other children that she chose to raise. To feel that rejection was a constant source of pain, like a leaky pipe left unfixed. If you leave a pipe to leak for too long, the dripping will rot out the structure around it. Eventually, given enough time, erosion will make an entire structure crumble.

A series of missed chances stacked the deck further against her. Doctors, therapists, programs that would not invest in her because she was not “broken enough.”

A series of her own poor choices led her to the final moment when she was removed from polite society and placed in federal prison.

Two years later she has fiercely claimed the faith that her grandmother instilled in her.  Her grandmother reminds me of the scripture in 2^nd Timothy 1:5.

“I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

Grandparents – take special note of that. Just like Timothy’s faith, a strong faith can be instilled by a grandparent. My heart- daughter has now come to understand that Jesus came to save her, a sinner.

She wrote me recently, “My Bible study question centered around the gifts the Wise Men gave Jesus. It asked ‘What gifts have I to offer Jesus?’ I wrote the first thing that came to my mind – I could use my past and my struggles and how everything brought me here today and I can maybe use my story to help people and show them it’s never too late to be saved.”

She continues… “I have been in for two years and I have roughly two left. It’s crazy, in a way God saved my life by taking my ‘life’ away. If you could even call it a life. I am excited to see what He has for me these next two years and beyond.”

Perhaps you believe that this is not how God works?  What sort of Dad lets his kid go through that sort of crappy situation?

A good God would not allow such suffering for his beloved child, right?  WRONG.

A quick summary from the National Gallery of the United Kingdom. (I took the liberty of changing the spelling of a few words for my American readers.)

“Joseph was one of Jacob’s twelve sons. His father loved him more than any of the others and gave him a colored cloak. His brothers were jealous of him and sold him into slavery. He was taken to Egypt and eventually became steward to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials. Potiphar’s wife tried unsuccessfully to seduce him and after false accusations were levelled at Joseph he was imprisoned. Due to his ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dream he was made governor of Egypt. He wisely rationed the country’s produce in preparation for a time of famine.

During the famine Jacob’s sons came to Egypt to plead with Joseph for supplies. They did not recognize him but after he was satisfied that they were reformed he identified himself with great joy. Joseph invited his father and brothers to come and settle in Egypt. The story is recounted in the Old Testament. (Genesis 37, 39-45)”

What that summary doesn’t tell you – Joseph remained incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit for over ten years. God allowed an overindulged teenager to enter prison and exit as a humble man. Joseph saved thousands of people from famine, including his brothers, who by that time were filled with remorse for their horrible actions.

Your story may not be as extreme. You might not have a story as dramatic as my heart – daughter. You may not be in a literal prison, but you may be trapped by some snare that is keeping you from the love of Jesus.  No matter. You can call on his name and be saved anytime, anywhere. No sin is too great or too unforgivable.

Deep down, we are all beggars searching for bread. If you are already a Christian it is your job to point fellow beggars to the Baker to receive the bread of life.

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Come as you are friends, you don’t need a reservation for His table. As my dear heart-daughter said, “It’s never too late to be saved.”

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