Why God Sent Me To Prison: Continued

​​Why God Sent Me To Prison: Continued

   Last week I reflected on my time and experiences from working in the prison system (To See Last Week's Article Click Here). I talked about what I had learned and shared how it could help you as well. I touched on how all men are fallen and capable of anything, how trusting in man is hopeless, and how serving God is more inconvenient The impact was huge as well as the number of people who had interest in the topic, therefore I will continue on that train of thought today. You will probably think to yourself, “what more could this guy say and learn about a profession that is as depressing as prison?” I would say, “much like the gospel, the lessons never stop because you’re dealing with broken people.” So, like many of the correctional officers across this country do every day, let’s strap on our boots and duty belts and get to it!

Don't Judge Others By Their Appearance
   I don’t mean to be cliché or anything like that, but we all know that we can’t judge a book by its cover. My first few days in prison I learned really fast that you can’t judge a person by what they look like or how they portray themselves (Proverbs 25:8). Look at the book of Job. As his situation began to worsen and he became ill, his own friends began to pass judgment upon him and assume he had sin in his life. Of course, we know this wasn’t the case at all, quite the opposite in fact. This is why out of all my experiences, prison taught me the most about my own gift of discernment. Those individuals that I thought might be the toughest, meanest, most violent offenders were often soft in reality, while some of the most-feeble looking individuals are often the most dangerous and unpredictable. As I began to grow closer to the Lord, my sense of discernment really began to help me flag the individuals to look out for. Unfortunately, it is difficult to turn this off even now.

   You hear the stories of the older prayed-up grandmas who could tell you exactly where you been and what you been doing without ever talking to anyone because God would show them, however you never imagine yourself being given such gifts. Many times when individuals approach me, I can discern in the Spirit the presence of light or dark in them (John 8:12). As one could imagine, there was not much presence of light in the hearts of men in that place, but some were darker in their hearts than others. God wishes to warn us of the presence of evil for our own good (2 Corinthians 6:14). I want to encourage you today to not make assumptions about those individuals with whom you cross paths, but to accept them lovingly as Jesus until given reasons otherwise. If the Spirit warns you about someone or they do something to make you uneasy, it is warranted, but we should never make assumptions based on simply what it appears to be at first sight. 

​ Your Mere Presence Makes The Enemy Very Uncomfortable
   Speaking of having the discernment for the presence of light and darkness, your presence makes the enemy more uncomfortable the more Jesus you have on you. I don’t mean that in a literal sense as if anointing is some kind of salve or lotion to put on your skin, but what I mean is your proximity in regards to relationship with God. When you have a relationship with Jesus, His Spirit is in you. What I have found is that the more centered around Christ my mind and life becomes, the more uncomfortable the enemy becomes around me. In Mark 5 we find a familiar story of yet another individual Jesus encounters with unclean spirits, however this situation was different from many others as these spirits were “legion” in number and recognized Jesus on sight (Mark 5:1-13). It is often interesting to see how people react to other people. Sometimes when I am in public (maybe it’s more of my ADD getting the best of me) I like to watch people and their behavior. What they do in certain situations, say, react, interact with their children, and body language are all fascinating to me. What I have found is that there are certain types of people who their presence commands respect, but there are also rare individuals who have “the presence” that commands everyone’s respect. I believe Old Testament Judge Samson may have been one of those individuals who was so anointed by the presence of God, everyone had to respect him to his face, even his enemies. This is not just because of his obvious physically dominating demeanor, but also because of the presence of God within him (Judges 13:24-25). While he eventually forsook God’s Nazarite covenant with him, while God was with Samson, he was a force to be reckoned with for the Philistines.

   At times I could sense how certain inmates were bothered by my presence, not because they didn’t necessarily care for me, but because of who resided in me. The anointing and presence of the Spirit in me shone on them, making the darkness in their own hearts uncomfortable. Sure there were instances where that individual was hateful to anyone or suffered from mental health issues, but many times it was due to the presence that I had in their living area. Do some study on demons and afflictions and what you will find is that they are territorial. This is why the spirits begged Jesus in Mark 5 not to send them off to a far place. They had rather possess a bunch of swine and drive them off a cliff so that they may be free to roam their territory than to be caught out of their area. Even the enemy has a system and an order as do all things spiritual. The enemy knows its place and order in the presence of the Lord, but do you know yours?

Paying Our Dues and Doing Our Time
   One of the most frustrating things about being a correctional officer just as in many areas of life was having to wait my turn and earn my way. In prison work according to the old school system, you have to pay your dues. People don’t go to college for four years, graduate, and step foot on some campus of a prison and demand a leadership role. They don’t care if you scored higher on the IQ test than Stephen Hawkins, you get the same thing everyone else does, a pair of uniforms and a set of keys. My first day on the job, I spent the first couple of hours following another officer around. It was rather exciting as I got to watch a fight in the flower bed in front of a housing unit within the first hour of arriving. After that I walked around the blocks with the officer as he “showed me the ins and outs of prison life.” The routine was the typical “do as I tell you, not as I do” type of deal. After the breakdown, he decided to go have a social hour, handed the keys to me, and walked out of the block. There I sat with 120 seasoned criminals with nothing more than myself, a bottle of pepper spray, and a radio to call for help. I almost forgot… I also had a whistle in case they took my radio (more decorative than practical). The biggest question that crossed my mind is, “is this how the next several years will look like?” Was I really going to spend several years walking circles around a huge crowd of convicts just hoping for the big break of an assignment on the perimeter of the camp?

   What I quickly learned about life and prison in general is that dues have to be paid. The easy positions have to be earned, the price has to be paid. While it may seem too simple for some to look at the way of the cross and say, “it can’t be that simple, it’s too easy so it must not be true”, it has never been free as the price was paid by God who gave His only begotten son so that we may live (John 3:16). Maybe you have already made the decision to give your life to Christ, but now find yourself frustrated, trapped like the officer doing his time in the cell block. I want to encourage you today by telling you not to worry and do not become “weary in well doing” (Galatians 6:9). God is counting on you to be faithful with your smaller, less honorable assignment while He prepares you for your ultimate “life-altering” assignments (Luke 16:10).

   Whatever you do, don’t learn this lesson as I did, spending years off and on coming back to the same old assignment before I would eventually learn this lesson. In ministry, career, and life in general, I was unsatisfied many times with my progress. Occasionally, when I lose focus, I still begin to think this way. I believed in my young mind that I should advance faster, farther, and higher than anyone without having to pay my dues. God obviously doesn’t work this way. Abraham was 100 years old, and took matters in his own hands once (causing problems and a pain in the side of the descendants of Isaac for thousands of years) before having his promised child. Moses spent 40 years basically shepherding sheep and was nearly 80 years old before ever speaking a word to Pharaoh for the people of God. Jesus (yes, the son of God who was the Word and wrote the Word) spent about 30 years of His physical life preparing for ministry before waiting for the precise moment of being baptized before starting. Maybe you find yourself in this position of waiting as I have many times. My advice to you is that if you desire to serve God, serve Him right where you are at. He may even be waiting to promote you, watching to see if you will act on faith and dedication by serving Him and his people right where you are. Remember that God needs lowly servants, not the prideful and arrogant at heart. These types of individuals are powerless and useless to God. However, with just enough faith and a heart that is teachable, God can lead a lowly servant to places the world’s Kings have never been before.

   I pray that this two-part series of lessons has impacted you on your spiritual journey. I hope that wherever you are that you find God and see God in everything we do here at Salvation's Call Ministries. Let us hear about how the ministry and God has impacted your life by sending us an email, filling out the submission form on the site, or finding us on Facebook. As always here at SCM, we pray that you will soon join us again and until next time, God Bless!
 
To Find Part One of This Article Click Here
 

Mark 5:1-20 King James Version (KJV)
5 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.
15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
16 And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.
17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
18 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.
19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.
20 And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.


Proverbs 25:8 King James Version (KJV)
8 Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.
 

​John 8:12 King James Version (KJV)
12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

​
Mark 5:1-13 King James Version (KJV)
5 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
 

Judges 13:24-25 King James Version (KJV)
24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
 

John 3:16 King James Version (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
 
Galatians 6:9 King James Version (KJV)
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
 
Luke 16:10 King James Version (KJV)
10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.