My Blessed Day | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: My Blessed Day | Previous Challenge Entry
By Becky Shingledecker
02/01/08
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES

I received one of the greatest blessings I have been given today (right up there with my wedding day and the days I gave birth to my 2 babies). Did I receive a new house? Get a great paying job? Find out some incredible news? No- I went to jail. That’s right. I had the pleasure of hanging out with junkies, drunks, thieves, drug dealers and goodness knows who else. Today I went to our county jail and sat in on the Celebrate Recovery program that our church is offering to the inmates incarcerated here. I have been involved in jail ministries in the past and loved it (never with CR though). However, there was something different about today. Unlike previous visits, today I didn’t “preach” a word. Nope, I sat on a hard mat next to a beautifully, broken inmate. I am not sure what she was in for, but I could tell she was heavy with burdens. Today’s “lesson” talked about getting rid of our guilt by confessing to someone what we have done. I don’t know what was running through her mind, but it was probably something about how bad she has screwed up her life. Boy, have I been there before!

I am not sure I have felt Jesus as much as when I was in that room. I know He was there. Jesus had a habit of hanging out with just that crowd. Being God, He knew that some of the people He was with would stray and not take the freedom He offered but He chose to be with them anyhow. What I felt was Jesus’ heart for these ladies. What was He saying? I believe it was something like Isaiah 42:6-7 in it He said “ I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the Gentiles, to open the eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Later in Isaiah 43:1 he said that He has redeemed them, called them by their name and that they are His. Beautiful. He didn’t look at them and call them by their number or what they’re doing time for. He called them by name! I could almost hear Him reach over to my “mat mate” and lift her beautiful head in His hands and say “child- I know YOUR name. No matter where you’ve been I love you- you are redeemed, forgiven, chosen, MINE!”.

Another woman with an interesting choice of hairstyles shared with me that a guard wasn’t going to let her come to group because “the pastor wouldn’t want you there like that”. She had a Mohawk with pink on the tips. As she relayed, she said she told the guy that they wouldn’t deny her because of her hair. You go girl! Neither would Jesus. He would look past the hair do and see the beautiful heart in her that has been trampled on. He sees her desire to change. He also sees things I can’t like if she is just in group for the coffee and cookies. However, He is glad she was there and loves her all the same.

The cry of my heart has been “Lord, I want to be like you”. I must confess that most days I feel so far from that desire that I am discouraged. However, for that all too brief hour, I think I have never been more like Him. Not because I said or did anything, but because I sat among them- just as He would’ve if He were in the flesh. I can’t wait to go again. I wonder if this is what He allowed this former undeserving pit dweller to know freedom for? Knowing that my Jesus was loving on these women of indescribable worth causes me to fall even deeper in love with Him. Oh sweet Jesus- set Your captives free!

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY FOR THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE

The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.